Archive

Helsinki (19.09.2011 - Juhani Artto) What does one do if the wage for full-time employment is not enough to cover the living costs of even a small family? This is an urgent question in Sriperumbudur in Southern India where Nokia and its subcontractors employ tens of thousands of workers in the manufacturing of mobile phones and related jobs.

Nokia's contract workers and trainees are paid no more than EUR70 per month. At the two Foxconn factories they receive EUR80 per month. Contract workers' and trainees' wages at Flextronics and Salcomp are approximately on a par with the other two.  

It is not unimportant how much contract workers and trainees are paid as a majority of employees belong to these categories. Among Nokia's personnel they make up slightly less than half of all employees but a clear majority at Foxconn, Salcomp and Flextronics.

Helsinki (16.09.2011 - Juhani Artto) Three union organizations, representing some 250,000 wage and salary earners in the technology industry, have agreed on common goals and pledged to act in unison during this current round of collective bargaining. This move is nothing short of historic as it is the first time that these separate employee groups have sought to combine forces in this way.

The three organizations in question are the Metalworkers' Union, the salaried employees union Pro and the bargaining organization of senior salaried employees YTN. They are aiming at a one and a half year agreement during which there would be a two-stage pay rise. The first of these would mean an increase of EUR0.67 per hour or EUR110 per month. For employees in the higher pay bracket the rise should be at least 4 per cent.

Helsinki (01.09.2011 - Juhani Artto) The summer vacations are now over and labour market organizations are sharpening their weapons for the new round of collective bargaining. Naturally, the employers are trying to take advantage of the uncertain economic outlook by painting the future with dark colours and more ominously by also announcing drastic redundancies.

On the other side of the battlefield trade unions are doing their utmost to encourage their rank and file members by drawing on data that throw serious doubt on the signals being sent out by employers. 

Further aggravation was to follow. In the technology industry this kind of debate was aggravated on Monday when union organizations published a survey based on replies given by 1,250 shop stewards representing all employee groups.

Helsinki (29.08.2011 - Juhani Artto) The employer stronghold, the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK announced on Thursday that its goal is to reach in the export industry "a responsible agreement that shows the direction for collective bargaining in other industries".

Union federations were quick to turn down this proposal. Akava's President Sture Fjäder pointed out that EK is not in a position to dictate or impose public sector solutions, as it is not even one of the organizations that participate in public sector bargaining.

Helsinki (19.08.2011 - Juhani Artto) In Northern Europe, there is a huge pay gap between two neighbouring countries, Finland and Estonia. Despite Estonia's rapid economic development since its declaration of independence in August 1991 average wages and salaries in Finland are several times higher than those in Estonia.

The latter country of 1.3 million inhabitants faces a long, uphill struggle if it is to reach its aspirations by 2020 - in terms of GNP per capita – and take its place alongside Europe's top-5 countries, as Prime minister Andrus Ansip envisioned in February. 

In Estonia a construction worker’s monthly net earnings are, on average, no more than EUR600, according to the latest issue of Talouselämä, says inspector Raimo Pohjola of the Finnish Construction Trade Union. In Finland the collective agreements guarantee roughly three times that net income.

Helsinki (12.08.2011 - Juhani Artto) In 2010, the average age of Finnish nationals was 42.4 years, slightly above the EU-27 average (41.5). On average foreigners and foreign-born people living in Finland are much younger. The average figures for the above are 32.9 and 34.3 respectively, whereas the figures for EU-27 are 34.4 and 40.0.

As Finland suffers from an ageing population it is fair to say that Finnish society and its labour market have benefited from immigration. The Finnish trade unions are well aware of this and welcome immigrant labour to work in Finland as long as Finnish legislation and Finnish collective agreements are applied to their working conditions.

Helsinki (05.08.2011 - Juhani Artto) Over one thousand employees at the Rautaruukki steel plant in Raahe join in the two-day strike action that began on Thursday morning. The employees seek to demonstrate their solidarity with the Polish workers who have been repairing a blast furnace at the plant since June.

The Polish workers are victims of wage dumping, the Finnish Construction Trade Union claims. The masons should be paid at least EUR15.54 per hour but their actual wage is EUR4 per hour or even less.

This became apparent last week when authorities inspected the plant. In addition, the eleven-hour work days without days of rest - that these Polish workers are expected to do - is a serious breach of the legislation governing working hours.

Helsinki (31.07.2011 - Juhani Artto) The case against ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's brings to light the risk of sexual harassment chambermaids working in hotels face daily. In Finland, studies conducted by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health have repeatedly documented that sexual harassment is more common in the hotel and catering sector than in any other industry.

Around one tenth of hotel and catering sector employees have experienced sexual harassment at work, the Institute's studies claim.

Amongst hotel chambermaids the problem may be even more prevalent. A clear indication that this is so comes from a recent mini-survey conducted by PAM, the magazine of the Service Union United PAM. The magazine mailed its questionnaire to some 500 organized chambermaids.

Helsinki (17.07.2011 - Juhani Artto) The Electrical Workers' Union has good news from the construction site of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant on the Finnish West Coast. More and more Polish electricians have come to realise that they are being badly exploited by their Polish employers and have joined the Finnish Electrical Workers' Union. From Elektrobudowa alone, over one hundred Polish electricians are now rank and file members of the union and benefit from its legal advice and other services. Thus, a third of the company's electricians at the Olkiluoto site are now organized.

This makes it easier for the union to sort out ambiguities in wages and other working conditions, says Hannu Luukkonen, an employee of the union working mainly on matters at Olkiluoto. The national collective agreement on electricians' working conditions is of generally binding character, he emphasizes and lists seven foreign companies that are obliged to respect the agreement. The companies are Elektrobudowa, Elektromontage Gdansk Spoika Akcyjna, Elmon, Megasystem, Murex, Phu Widig and Wawenet.

Helsinki (11.07.2011 - Juhani Artto) The from four to six week vacations enjoyed by Finnish wage and salary earners rank high among the achievements of the Finnish trade union movement. However, nowadays employers often interfere with vacationers' well-earned leisure time by contacting them with various requests. Mobile phones and mobile net connections have made it technically easy for employers to contact their employees whenever the need arises.

A new survey made by the salaried employees' trade union Pro gives a detailed picture on how often these interventions take place. Among private sector salaried employees, in the worst case scenarios are foremen/supervisors, as employers are likely to contact 41 per cent of them during their vacation. On average 28 per cent of the private sector salaried employees can expect to be disturbed during their vacation by their employers.