Archive

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.

Helsinki (12.10.2009 - Juhani Artto) By 2019 more than a third of the 437,000 municipal workers will retire. In the future, development and provision of services may prove to be even more difficult for municipal organisations as the increasingly stressful work may compel more employees to seek early retirement than predicted.

The worst prospects concern cleaning. By 2019 over half of the municipal cleaners will retire. The health and home care sectors will also face huge recruitment requirements. Almost half of hospital and home care assistants will retire in ten years.

Helsinki (12.10.2009 - Juhani Artto) Two industrial unions that have their roots in the 19th century will amalgamate. They are the Chemical Workers' Union and the Media Union. The new union, TEAM, will have 67,000 rank-and -file members, which makes it the fifth largest union in the union confederation SAK. Officially TEAM will start functioning on 1 January 2010.

The final formal decisions completing the merger will be made on 13 November 2009 by the extraordinary congress of the Media Union and on 26-27 November 2009 by the general council of the Chemical Workers' Union.