Archive

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.

Helsinki (07.07.2011 - Juhani Artto) Trade unions want employees in atypical jobs to have identical rights as wage and salary earners in permanent full-time jobs. However, regulations on working conditions in atypical jobs still fall short of this demand.

This is true also concerning the length of annual leave. "The logic is this: The shorter the employment relation is and the more it diverges from the typical employment relation, the poorer the annual leave rights are", Anu-Hanna Anttila, a sociologist from the University of Turku, writes on SAK's web site.

Helsinki (20.06.2011 - Juhani Artto) The basic line of the new government programme is acceptable to the trade unions. This indisputable conclusion may be drawn from early comments made by the Presidents of the three union confederations (Akava, SAK, STTK) and also from the reactions of Presidents of several large national trade unions, such as JHL and PRO.

The 89-page programme consists not only of general outlines with respect to future policy but numerous concrete solutions. The government is determined to put an end to growing inequality and bring about at least a modest improvement in the standard of living of poor people.

The spike in the budget deficit will be slowed down significantly and unemployment will decrease, assuming that the fairly brisk economic growth continues. Trade union leaders regard trends of this nature as necessary and fair.

Helsinki (17.06.2011 - Juhani Artto) "Recent events in the Arab world came as much of a surprise to us, and no doubt to everyone else too", says Kari Tapiola* who works as a special adviser to ILO's DirectorGeneral Juan Somavia. In the last few months Tapiola has mainly been working on issues arising from ILO's involvement in the Arab countries.

The ILO has a long history in many parts of the Arab world. Within the region there is a huge need for assistance revolving around issues covered by the ILO's mandate: employment, social justice, trade union rights etc. The changes now taking place will most certainly add to requests for ILO's services, Tapiola goes on.

Tampere (07.06.2011 - Juhani Artto) The speeches at the SAK Congress general discussion - altogether some 70 contributions – conveyed convincing evidence that the "SAK movement" has reached a broad consensus on its goals and the means to achieve them. This is not to say that there aren’t any disagreements. There certainly are, but they do not divide the movement into warring factions and it is safe to say any disagreements over strategy or tactics are handled in a concrete and open manner. 

The basic line to protect honest work, core labour rights and vulnerable people is beyond dispute. And the essential aim to strive for equality, in all its dimensions, is shared by all as a common goal. Without any doubt, everybody attending this Congress wants the grey or black economy to be tackled effectively.