Archive

Helsinki (10.03.2010 - Juhani Artto) In 2000 Fujitsu broke the law on corporate-level mandatory consultation when closing its pc factory in Espoo near Helsinki. This is the final verdict in the decade-long legal process between the company and eleven Finnish trade unions that represented 223 of the 450 dismissed employees.

Lower court decisions had favoured Fujitsu but on Monday the High Court decided the dispute in favour of the employees. The High Court concluded that Fujitsu had made the decision to close the factory prior to corporate mandatory consultation and thus were in breach of the legislation regulating corporate-level cooperation in the companies.

Helsinki (23.02.2010 - Juhani Artto) As in many other European countries, in Finland the government and employer organisations are pushing hard to raise the retirement age. The need to extend working careers is recognised also by the trade unions.

The reasons underlying the need for people to work longer are ultimately bound up with demographics. The age structure of Finnish people is among the oldest in the world. It means that the proportion of working age people is smaller than in most other countries. That creates a heavy economic burden not only on the pension system but on the whole national economy.

Helsinki (22.02.2010 - Juhani Artto) The Estonian service sector union ETKA has grown strongly over the past five years. The number of its rank and file members has risen at a rate of 10 per cent annually. Now, membership exceeds 1,000. Compared with the development of most other Estonian unions, ETKA has progressed well.

One of the factors behind the improvement has been the close cooperation with the Finnish union PAM (Service Union United PAM). ETKA and PAM began a common project five years ago, focusing on ETKA's organising and collective bargaining. The work has been successful, as ETKA has several company-specific collective agreements, and in addition, agreements on cooperation with some companies.

Helsinki (15.02.2010 - Juhani Artto) In several traditional industrial sectors the year 2009 was a sad year in Finland, as businesses ceased production and (almost certainly) closed their doors for the last time. That was the fate of manufacturers of men's suits, rubber boots, glass bottles and flat glass. All had been produced in Finland for generations.

The last factory to produce men's suits was recently closed down in Kuopio, although hundreds of thousands of men's suits are bought annually in Finland. The factory, belonging to Turo Tailor, established in 1938, was competitive in quality and by other criteria but not when it came to production costs.

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.