Archive

Helsinki (08.02.2010 - Juhani Artto) The negotiators in the municipal sector have been able to reach common ground concerning new collective agreements. The negotiation outcome still has to be approved by the decision making bodies. The new agreements are for two years.

The agreements do not include any pay rises common to all. Instead, certain groups, such as catering, cleaning, social and kindergarten employees, will receive (from 1 February) on average, an 0.8 per cent pay rise. On September 1 another rise (0.7 per cent) will be awarded locally for purposes that improve results at work units.

Helsinki (29.01.2010 - Juhani Artto) On January 31 the collective agreement in the municipal sector and several other large and small collective agreements expire. And many more will expire in the next few months.

On Thursday, 30 000 salaried employees in the technology industry received a new collective agreement. It raises their salaries by 0.5 per cent. The agreement includes a new approach on how to solve the dispute concerning what groups of salaried employees the agreement covers. A person from outside (of the parties) will clear up factors that demarcate salaried employees from senior salaried employees.

Helsinki (18.01.2010 - Juhani Artto) On Saturday, Helsingin Sanomat, the largest daily in Finland, reported on wages that barely exceed EUR3 per hour. According to the story, immigrant labour inspector Anssi Riihijärvi has uncovered such miserable wages in a few ethnic restaurants. The minimum wage –as defined in the catering sector collective agreement that is of a generally binding character- should be more than 9EUR per hour.

A similar, and even wider discrepancy prevails in the mail distribution industry. The Finnish Post and Logistics Union PAU has recently voiced strong criticism of companies for paying -in the worst instances- as little as EUR2 per hour. The minimum is four times higher than that, under the industry's collective agreement. In June 2009 the Labour Court confirmed that the agreement is of a generally binding character and should be applied in all mail distribution jobs.

Helsinki (11.01.2010 - Juhani Artto) In 2009 almost 20,000 employees were given notice. This was double that of the previous year. And, the number of employees whose jobs were under threat in company-based mandatory consultations between employer and employee representatives had even trebled. 

The main union confederation SAK -which has collected this data from public sources- published its annual summary of dismissals etc. on Thursday.

"So far the employment situation is not showing any signs of improvement. Probably it will weaken further in the coming months", says Janne Metsämäki, the head of SAK's unit of economic and industrial policy.

Helsinki (13.12.2009 - Juhani Artto) The price of electricity is more important or critical for Finland than for most other countries. It is not only due to the cold climate and long distances in this sparsely populated northern country but also due to the major role the energy intensive industry plays in Finland's economy.

This is one of the starting points in the 27 page "discussion paper" on climate change and energy published on December 7 by SAK, the largest union confederation in Finland. The price of electricity has to be maintained at a reasonably low cost level so as not to threaten the competitiveness of industry and to ensure that energy consumption doesn’t eat up too large a proportion of people’s income.

As to global and European issues SAK primarily refers to recent policy statements made by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). SAK is an affiliated member of both.

Helsinki (07.12.2009 - Juhani Artto) This autumn four employees of the Rautaruukki steel mill in Raahe have committed suicide. They represent only the tip of iceberg when it comes to the indisposition of the personnel, according to shop steward Mika Vuoti and safety representative Alpo Pirneskoski. 

"The management has for several years completely ignored the needs of the employees. In the last few years the employer has unilaterally demolished good practises that had been agreed upon together", Vuoti says bluntly.

Helsinki (06.12.2009 - Juhani Artto) The dues or contributions paid by an employee to his or her unemployment fund depend on the unemployment rate in that industry. At present the rate in the engineering, electronic and wood-working industries is clearly above the average. Consequently, members of the unemployment funds in these industries have to pay high dues towards their unemployment insurance. 

The levelling system slightly helps to reduce the highest contributions, but this year only EUR3m is being used for levelling. The unemployment insurance fund had budgeted EUR10m for levelling but the employer representatives, taking advantage of their majority on the board, decided to set aside only EUR3m for the purpose.

Helsinki (26.11.2009 - Juhani Artto) On Tuesday, negotiators from the chemical industry trade unions and employer federations agreed on new collective agreements. Next year, when the agreements take effect, wages and salaries will be raised by slightly more than the 0.5 per cent limit the powerful employer confederation EK has tried to force into agreements in all industries where collective bargaining is under way. 

On Wednesday, the board of the Chemical Workers' Union approved the outcome of the negotiations. Timo Vallittu, the President of the union, and Hannu Siltala, its National Secretary, are satisfied with the union's ability to break down the tight control exercised by the employer confederation EK.

Chemical workers' pay is set to go up in May by 0.6 per cent at national level and by 0.3 per cent at local level.

Helsinki (15.11.2009 - Juhani Artto) Redundancies make the headlines, but when fixed-term employment comes to an end it receives little public attention. However, in Finland it is the termination of fixed-term jobs, which results in far more unemployment than what can be attributed to redundancies.

According to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, since the year 2000, termination of fixed-time employment has annually resulted in up to half a million periods of unemployment.

In other words the cessation of fixed-time employment causes more unemployment than all other reasons put together. In 2008, there were almost ten times more fixed-term job terminations than redundancies caused by work place closures, economic difficulties in companies and changes in production.

Helsinki (05.11.2009 / updated 08.11.2009 – Juhani Artto) Wood and Allied Workers’ Union reaction to UPM's plan to close several productive facilities in the mechanical forest industry was one of incredulity and total incomprehension. There are already signs of recovery, Sakari Lepola, the President of the union says.

He refers to estimates coming from Finnvera, a government owned financing company, and of the Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla. Also UPM itself has hinted, in its quarterly report, to recovery, Lepola says.