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Helsinki (14.10.2011 - Juhani Artto) For the first time in four years the labour market confederations agreed on Thursday to a centralized collective agreement. Economists belonging to the confederations expect the 25-month agreement to slightly improve the purchasing power of wage and salary earners. 

The signatory parties are the union confederations Akava, SAK and STTK and the Confederation of Finnish Industries and the employer organs of the State, municipalities and the Lutheran church.

The agreement includes two pay rises (2.4 per cent and 1.9 per cent), a EUR 150 lump sum and several changes in working life regulations. In addition, the government has promised to make the agreement more attractive by tax cuts for both employees and companies together with a few other measures.

Helsinki (05.10.2011 - Juhani Artto) Negotiations for a comprehensive income policy agreement ended on Tuesday after failure to reach agreement on pay rises. The two employer confederations (Confederation of Finnish Industries EK and Local Government Employers KT) offered 2.4 per cent for the first 13 months and 1.9 per cent for the following 12 months. 

The union confederations SAK and STTK turned down the proposal as too low. The third union confederation Akava would have liked to continue the bargaining process and wait and see what kind of tax cuts Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen would promise to smoothen the path towards a confederation level agreement.

After SAK's and STTK's rejection EK's Director General Mikko Pukkinen stated that EK will not make any new offer and that the confederation level negotiations are now over. In practice, this means that collective bargaining will go on between the sector-based labour market parties i.e. between individual trade unions and the employer organizations in various industries.

Helsinki (05.10.2011 - Juhani Artto) Over 32,000 salaried and wage employees in the metal industry are ready to begin a two and a half week strike on 21 October if a new collective agreement cannot be reached prior to that date.

The trade union of private sector salaried employees Pro, the Metalworkers' Union and the Electrical Workers' Union announced on Tuesday of their intention to go on strike at 44 companies in the technology industry. Over 32,000 salaried and wage employees will take part in the strike from 21 October to 7 November if the parties fail to reach new collective agreements.

The threat of industrial action is designed to exert further pressure in an effort to realise the common goals of the unions. The latter 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. And the second pay rise would boost wages and salaries by EUR 0.34 per hour or EUR 60 per month – or an increase of 2 per cent at least.

Helsinki (30.09.2011 - Juhani Artto) The Finnish six-party coalition government is taking an ambitious stance towards youth unemployment. The goal is to get rid of it! This has been clearly outlined in the government programme and its implementation was launched last Monday, when the "youth social guarantee" task force was officially named and given wings.

The promise or guarantee is to offer every young person below 25 years of age and every recent graduate below 30 years of age, either a job, place to study, apprenticeship or rehabilitation. And the aim is for this to happen within three months from the beginning of the unemployment. The system should be functioning properly and smoothly by 2013.

Helsinki (28.09.2011 - Juhani Artto) All three Finnish union confederations - Akava, SAK and STTK - oppose the government's plan to cut compensation to employees who opt for job alternation leave. The government intends to cut the alternation leave compensation by 10 to 20 per cent from its present level. Employees on job alternation leave are entitled to compensation of anything between 70 - 80 per cent of unemployment benefit.

The system of job alternation leave was established in 1996 and made permanent a few years ago.

To date thousands of employees have availed of the scheme of job alternation leave annually. Last year over 17,000 took the opportunity. The scheme was most popular among employees, organized in the STTK unions. In the year 2010 about 1.3 per cent of their rank and file members were on job alternation leave.

Helsinki (26.09.2011 - Juhani Artto) The Finnish Electrical workers' union is suing the Polish company Elektrobudowa for unpaid wages, overtime compensation and holiday pay and unpaid compensation for expenses.

The claim amounts to over EUR 2.7 million which has accrued from January 2009 to May 2011 at the construction site of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant. The claim concerns 115 Polish electricians who have joined the Finnish union.

According to the union's magazine Vasama, the electricians have been paid on average only EUR8 to EUR13 per hour although the minimum wage is EUR15.03 per hour. The minimum is defined in the collective agreement for electricians' work.

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.