Archive

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.

Helsinki (27.10.2009 - Juhani Artto) In Finland the grey economy is a smaller problem than in most countries in the world. However, since the mid 1990s it has grown to be a real pest. It creates problems for companies who operate honestly and in compliance with the law and additionally deprives the state of billions of euros in tax money and social security payments each year. 

According to experts, the problem tends to get even worse in times of economic recession, such as the present one.

It is obvious that -in order to tackle the grey economy effectively- legislation needs to be updated and the authorities, responsible for ensuring laws are upheld, must be allocated more resources for this task. In this respect things do not look promising, in the near future at any rate, as the government of Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen has not been very responsive to such demands.

Helsinki (13.10.2009 - Juhani Artto) The Electrical Workers' Union and the Union of Salaried Employees announced on Monday that they had agreed on much closer cooperation. The goal is to increase their bargaining power. The two organisations also want to intensify cooperation in internal and external communication, training and international work.

Around half of the rank and file members of the two unions have common employers in industry, the energy sector, the ICT sector, and in the construction industry. Martti Alakoski, the president of the Electrical Workers Union regards close cooperation between the unions as only natural because at many work places it is difficult to draw the line between work done by electricians and by salaried employees.