Archive

Helsinki (16.01.2014 - Heikki Jokinen) Alcohol results in some two million days of absence from work every year in Finland. The harm caused by alcohol abuse is estimated at between 4 and 6.5 billion euro a year. Alcohol also contributes to a lot of dangerous situations which occur at work.

The three trade union federations Akava, SAK and STTK support the national campaign Tipaton tammikuu (Not a drop in January). It has a clear message: to ask citizens to abstain from drinking alcohol in January.

Quite many do follow the appeal. According to the surveys of those Finns who do drink alcohol 22 per cent joined up to the campaign last year. People below 25 years of age were more eager to participate than those from the older generation set.

Helsinki (08.01.2014 - Heikki Jokinen) The number of redundancies remained on a high level already for the second year in a row during 2013. A total of 14,500 employees lost their job, according to statistics from the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK. In 2012 the number of redundancies was 15,800.

Only in the year 2009 has the number of redundancies been greater than in the last two years. More than 20,000 employees lost their jobs in 2009.

Technology industry companies accounted for the bulk of personnel cuts and second place went to private services. The highest number of redundancies took place in the industry services provider Metso which let go 1,157 employees. It was followed by Renesas Mobile 808, ship builder STX 670 and Nokia with 579 redundancies.

The listed companies were responsible for 45 per cent of redundancies. This is ten percentage points less than last year.

Helsinki  (23.12.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) Ann Selin, president of the Service Union United PAM, is a candidate for the next president of UNI Global Union. She was nominated as a candidate at the UNI World Executive Board meeting in Dublin in November. The elections will take place at the next UNI World Congress in Cape Town in 2014.

"It is an honour to the whole Finnish and Nordic trade union movement and our ways of doing things that I was asked to be a candidate. It is an important international task that will open even greater possibilities to examine how developments in the global labour market are shaping up and to influence these", Ann Selin says.

JHL (20.12.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) JHL has started a new marketing campaign with the slogan May the force be with us. The line is a well-known one from the Star Wars -movies, but it sums up well what the world of trade union work is all about.

The union provides the force for the challenges in working life, but the union itself is also a force, which has the power to influence society and working life. The idea behind JHL’s campaign is to combine and connect elements from popular culture with the real and formidable story of organised labour.

"We are saying that no one has to be left alone. JHL is defending your rights in working life. We also seek to defend welfare services as a whole", says Kauko Ala-Nikula, the JHL Head of Communication.

Helsinki (16.12.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) Riku Aalto, the president of the Metalworkers' Union, put forward the idea for closer cooperation or even amalgamation between industrial unions. He spoke at the Metalworkers' Union National Council meeting.

In particular Aalto mentioned the deepening of cooperation under the auspices of the Council of Finnish Industrial Unions (Teollisuuden palkansaajat TP). This body is a cooperative umbrella organisation made up of 13 industrial unions. Aalto is the chairperson of TP.

Aalto cited falling membership dues, which in turn leads to a reduction of staff in union offices, as a reason for closer cooperation. "We have to be able to consider critically our activities and how to organise these", he stressed.

JHL (16.12.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) The unemployment rate among JHL members is lower than the average. This bit of news was unearthed by JHL magazine Motiivi when studying the statistics. The figures are from last June.

The unemployment rate among the whole labour force was 11.6 per cent and among JHL members 8.1 per cent. Only in one of the 19 counties were the figures not in favour of JHL members.

The lowest unemployment rate among JHL members was in the archipelago county Åland, 1.6 per cent. The unemployment rate in Åland is also low in general, 3.1 per cent.

Helsinki (04.12.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) In January 2014 Pekka Ristelä will become the new director of the FinUnions office in Brussels. FinUnions is the EU office of the Finnish trade union confederations Akava, SAK and STTK. It looks after the interests of Finnish employees and represents more than two million members who belong to the three confederations.

And what are the immediate tasks and concerns awaiting him in Brussels? "Elections to the European Parliament are now just half a year away and we will also get a new European Commission. The Commission’s programme for the next five years is important, as it will set the main policy lines to follow", Ristelä says.

Helsinki (03.12.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) Members of the trade union confederation Akava are prepared to remain longer in working life than before. This is revealed in the latest survey commissioned by Akava and conducted by TNS Gallup.

Akava has been examining attitudes towards retirement among its members for some time now. Surveys aimed at sounding out members as to where they stand on this issue have been carried out in 2007, 2010 and 2013.

Akava, the Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland, is a trade union confederation for those with university, professional or other higher-level educational qualifications. Together, Akava’s 35 affiliates have unionised more than half a million employees and professionals.

JHL (02.02.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) To turn one's back on Europe is no solution to anything in Finland, says JHL President Jarkko Eloranta. He urges Finns to vote in the forthcoming elections for the European parliament next spring.

"This time round we need an election result that conveys a strong desire to change the direction of Europe. There needs to be a demonstrable change towards a more social Europe, towards a workers' Europe and towards a European welfare policy."

We have to work for change and fight for it before the existing policy line destroys what we have been building on this continent for over one hundred years, Eloranta stresses.

Helsinki (26.11.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) A German catering company came close to bringing Finland to a standstill in the middle of November due to so called agreement shopping. A dispute over the Finnair catering service personnel collective agreement led to threats of solidarity strikes by transport staff unions. This would have had the effect of halting Finnish exports and disrupted a major part of goods transport.

The national flag carrier Finnair outsourced its catering services in August 2012 to the German company LSG Sky Chefs, owned by Lufthansa. LSG assumed full managerial and operational responsibility for the in-flight and catering service provider Finnair Catering, and in doing so acquired a new name, LSG Sky Chefs Finland. However, it is still owned by Finnair.