Archive

Helsinki (15.05.2014 - Heikki Jokinen) The number of labour disputes has risen somewhat in Finland, though the number is still low. In 2013 there were 121 labour disputes whereas in 2012 the number was 86.

The figures come from the latest data published by Statistics Finland and detail labour disputes organised by employees or employers in Finland. Most labour disputes result in strikes organised by employees. Last year 108 out of a total number of 121 labour disputes involved strikes.

The number of participants and lost working days is, however, relatively low in comparison with most of the years during this millennium. Last year 19,567 people were involved in strike action and 25,999 working days were lost.

Helsinki (07.05.2014 - Heikki Jokinen) Ten metalworkers in the town of Akaa have just won a record 57 million euro in the Eurolotto lottery. This may save their colleagues from redundancy.

Just before the news of the jackpot win, their employer, the SKS Toijala Works machinery factory, announced it would begin negotiations aimed at a reduction in the workforce. The company employs some 230 people. The SKS Group also has units in China, Poland, Sweden, Russia and Estonia.

Helsinki (05.05.2014 - Heikki Jokinen) In April the Finnish government introduced a proposal for a law making it compulsory for employers to report on gender pay gaps. This would cover jobs where women and men are performing the same work.

Should the proposed reform of the Equality Act be passed by parliament it will come into force at the beginning of next year.

The proposal will make it compulsory for companies with more than 30 employees to report to their personnel on the company equality plan.

The report must include information on classification, salaries and salary differences in respect of female and male jobs. Where there are differences, the employer is obliged to clarify to the employees the reasons for this.

JHL (28.04.2014 - Heikki Jokinen) Regulations governing working life are increasingly emanating from the European parliament. It is imperative that the voice of employees be also heard when it comes to decision making. JHL has just published its six main theses for the European Parliament elections.

JHL (16.04.2014 - Heikki Jokinen) After much debate and various proposals mooted the government parties and the opposition parties agreed at the end of March on the implementation of a comprehensive reform of social welfare and health care services in Finland.

All services are to be delivered by five regional providers. In each region there is one university hospital. Municipalities will still be responsible for services and paying for care.

JHL president Jarkko Eloranta sees the chosen model as being on the right track. "It is based on service providers which are big enough or proportionate to population demands. In any event the most important concern is to secure reliable and good quality services throughout the country as a whole."

Helsinki (15.04.2014 - Heikki Jokinen) Trade union confederations are demanding that work to improve a contractor's obligations and liability should continue. The confederations consider the new proposals concerning changes to the Act do not go far enough and are insufficiently effective.

The Act on the Contractor's Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out has been in force since 2007. Now, the working group at the Ministry of Employment and the Economy has examined the need to revise the Act.

The Act stipulates that before entering into agreements with subcontractors and temporary work agencies, a contractor must ensure that the subcontractors and agencies are reliable and comply with terms of employment.

Working group representatives from the three confederations Akava, SAK and STTK included an additional resolution to the working group’s final draft which stresses that the proposed changes do not address nor will help in solving the problems of wage dumping.

Helsinki (02.04.2014 - Heikki Jokinen) Forestry and paper company Stora Enso has admitted that its joint venture in Pakistan is using child labour. Public debate following the exposure forced the company to remove one of their directors from his job.

Swedish media reported that suppliers for the Finnish-Swedish company, Stora Enso, are using children to collect waste paper from rubbish dumps in Pakistan. This paper is then used by the Stora Enso joint venture operation, Bulleh Shah Packaging.

Stora Enso has been operating in Pakistan since 2012, when it entered into a joint venture with the Pakistani company, Packages Ltd. Stora Enso owns 35 per cent of this joint venture.
The company knew back in 2012 that child labour was part of the supply chain, but chose to ignore claims to this effect.

JHL (26.03.2014 - Heikki Jokinen) Privatisation of fully state owned companies such as Destia and Altia is again under discussion. Such measures are being considered as a way to cut the state budget deficit. JHL vehemently opposes privatisation.

Destia is a major road and railway construction and maintenance company with a market share of some 60 per cent of road-building work in Finland. Altia is a wine and spirits company, which was a part of the state alcohol monopoly until 1999.

JHL has published a joint statement together with the Finnish Food Workers' Union SEL, rejecting any such proposals. The unions say that there is absolutely no justification whatsoever for privatisation that would stand up to close scrutiny.

JHL (26.03.2014 - Heikki Jokinen) JHL sees the compromise reached concerning the alternation leave system as a bad decision. This came about by way of three-party negotiations between trade union confederations, the employers' federation and the Finnish Government.

"The decision makes it more difficult to use alternation leave as it sets unreasonable limits on or to becoming a substitute", says Teija Asara-Laaksonen, Chief Executive Officer of JHL.

In the future it will only be permissible to employ a substitute who has been unemployed for at least 90 days during the last 14 months. At the moment there is no such time limit on the length of unemployment.

Helsinki (24.03.2014 - Heikki Jokinen) Foreign seasonal wild berry pickers should be employed properly, proposes rapporteur Markku Wallin who has examined the situation and the working conditions of thousands of wild berry pickers coming to Finland every year.

Mr. Wallin proposes that the berry pickers should get employment contracts from the companies buying their berries. Their work should be regulated as is any work in Finland. Another alternative would be to create separate legislation, but the rapporteur sees this as the least favourable option.

At the moment seasonal wild berry pickers are in a kind of legal limbo. Their legal status in unclear: they are not seen as being employees and nor are they considered to be self-employed. They work at their own risk. According to Finnish legislation picking wild berries in forests is a right to be enjoyed by everyone and is also exempt from taxation.