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Helsinki (17.01.2011 - Juhani Artto) The fight against the grey economy has taken an important step forward with the new initiatives being proposed by the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK. The powerful employer central organisation wants to make tax identification numbers mandatory for all persons working in the construction industry.

"Foreign workers would have to obtain their tax identification number from the tax office before being allowed onto construction sites in Finland. Tax identification numbers would allow the Finnish tax authorities to monitor how long each foreign worker is staying in Finland. This would clarify whether or not the person would have to pay taxes in Finland", EK says.

Helsinki (03.01.2011 - Juhani Artto) In the last few years thousands of employees have lost their jobs as a result of pulp and paper mill closures. Esa Kaitila, a researcher working at The Paperworkers' Union, calculates that since 2006 over 4,000 of its rank and file members have lost their jobs due to closures.

Director Markku Palokangas from the largest union of salaried employees PRO estimates that in the same period from 1,500 to 2,000 salaried employee jobs have been eliminated in the pulp and paper industry. 

A new study provides detailed information on how the workers of the closed mills in Hamina (Summa), Kajaani and Kemijärvi have fared in the labour market following the closures. Not well, as was indeed expected already 2-3 years ago when the closure plans were announced.

Helsinki (30.12.2010 - Juhani Artto) Ann Selin, the President of the Service Union United PAM, has 26 wishes for the New Year. They are as follows.

TU (23.12.2010 - Juhani Artto) On Wednesday the High Court ordered Stora Enso to pay to its 200 salaried employees at the Oulu and Anjalankoski mills over EUR200,000. This verdict finally brought resolution to a dispute originating from spring 2006.

Then Stora Enso refused to pay performance bonuses to salaried employees who had taken part in the industrial action organized by their trade unions. The strike was a protest against the thousands of dismissals in the forest industry.

"The High Court's decision affirmed an important judicial principle", says Antti Rinne, the President of the Union of Salaried Employees TU.

Helsinki (20.12.2010 - Juhani Artto) Since the late 1960s three-tier cooperation between the government and the labour market organizations has been an important element in the promotion of economic growth and in the development of the Finnish welfare system. Now there are serious signs of deterioration in this three-tier cooperation endeavour.

Therefore, it is no small wonder that the Presidents of the two largest union confederations, SAK's Lauri Lyly and STTK's Mikko Mäenpää, have become alarmed by this trend. They have sought to analyse what has been happening in the latest issues of their organizations' magazines, Palkkatyöläinen and sttklehti.

The present government (2010-), and the one before it (2007-2010), were keen to cultivate the idea that they were supporters of three-tier cooperation but their deeds have not always lived up to these assurances. These two governments set up dozens of three-tier task forces but neither have respected the results of their findings nor been committed to their proposals.

Helsinki (17.12.2010 - Juhani Artto) Well-being at work can be significantly improved in the technology industry. This conclusion marks the starting point of a new project in the industry that - with its 270,000 employees - plays a central role in the Finnish economy. Some 20 enterprises of various sizes and product sectors will participate in the project's pilot stage, which is already underway. 

The logic behind the project plan rests on the assumption that when employees' begin to fare better and feel better about the work they do their motivation and work abilities also improve. And this lays the ground for extending working careers - a goal generally accepted and approved by society. Extending work careers not only means later retirement (or a higher age of retirement) but also healthier working years in the earlier stages of employees' lives.

The name of the project is "Good work - longer working career".

TU (13.12.2010 - Juhani Artto) The union of salaried employees TU and Suora, the union of the financial sector salaried employees, finally approved their amalgamation on Saturday. The new union Pro will be operative from 1 January 2011. The first steps in the amalgamation process were taken five years ago.

The union has some 130,000 rank and file members in the private industry and service sectors. Within industry members are to be found in the large sectors such as the technology, forest, chemical and food industries. Also ICT, construction, energy and media industries are well represented.

The rank and file members work as salaried employees, hourly paid employees and foremen or supervisors and in expert jobs. The union organizes self-employed professionals, too.

Helsinki (12.12.2010 - Juhani Artto) In the second quarter 2010 the average wages for women in Finnish industry were 84.4 per cent of average wages for men. The gap was marginally larger than in the fourth quarter 2007 and 2006. In the second quarter 2002 the corresponding figure was 80 per cent.

Helsinki (29.11.2010 - Juhani Artto) The grey economy has now become a very real issue in Finnish politics. This may be seen as a reaction to the recent studies that indicate a rapid growth in the grey economy, with all its attendant malignant implications for society as a whole and in particular for all those companies operating legitimately and their Finnish employees.

On November 9 the Ministry of Employment and the Economy set up a task force to appraise how the present administrative tools work in tackling the grey economy. 

According to the Minister of Labour Anni Sinnemäki, a central issue on the task force's agenda is to prepare amendments to the Act on the Contractor's Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out.

Helsinki (22.11.2010 - Juhani Artto) In late September we reported on suspicions that Turkish electricians are not being properly paid for building a new 400 kV transmission line in Southern Ostrobothnia. These suspicions had been voiced by The Electrical Workers' Union.

Soon after that Sauli Väntti, who is responsible for the union's work in the energy and ICT sectors, visited the work site of the Turkish company Internationale Freileitungsmontage (IFM) to gather information on working conditions. A week later - without any explanations - the 33 Turkish electricians returned home.