Archive

Helsinki (20.02.2009 / edited 22.02.2009 – Juhani Artto) Campaigners and supporters of the merger between six industrial unions could heave a sigh of relief on Thursday evening. The ballots in two major unions ended in favour of the merger.

In the Metalworkers’ Union 55.6 per cent of the members, participating in the ballot, gave the green light to the merger. In the Chemical Workers’ Union 62.1 per cent voted for the merger. Voter participation was decent enough with 26.5 per cent of the Metalworkers’ Union and 29.5 per of the Chemical Workers’ Union coming out to cast their ballots.

The two unions are the largest ones of the six unions. Their rank and file members make up almost two thirds of the planned 330,000 rank and file super-union. Earlier the delegations of the Media Union (graphical workers) and the Wood and Allied Workers’ Union had positioned themselves clearly in favour of the merger.

Helsinki (17.02.2009 / updated 17.02.2009 - Juhani Artto) Should the Finnish and Estonian unions merge? In Jyrki Raina's opinion the idea is worth serious analysis and consideration. His comment was recently published in Ahjo, the magazine of the Finnish Metalworkers' union.

Raina works as the secretary general of the Nordic IN, a federation of 22 Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Icelandic unions that represent 1.2 million employees in the various industrial sectors and mining.

Nordic unions have supported Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian unions since the early 1990s. However, the support has not lead to a renewal of the Baltic trade unions, which has caused frustration in the Nordic unions, Raina writes.

TU (16.02.2009) Nokia's plan to close down the R & D unit in Jyväskylä means casting aside over 300 high-quality employees. Given the present world situation this is incomprehensible business policy, claims a highly critical Union of Salaried Employees (TU).

If the company implements its plan, the union demands full responsibility from the employer. Finnish employees who will be given notice must be treated equally with the German employees who last year lost their jobs at the mobile telephone plant in Bochum.

"It is hard to believe that Nokia would cut activity that is very significant to its future. Employees in Jyväskylä are confused and worried. Their ability has been a resource for the whole company. They are very motivated top professionals. The unit that Nokia now plans to close played a role when the company made a profit of almost EUR1,000 million at the end of last year, Antti Rinne, the President of the TU says, demanding Nokia reveal the reasons for its plan.

Helsinki (14.02.2009 - Juhani Artto) The economic forecast of the Labour Institute for Economic Reasearch (LIER) is the most pessimistic of all recent forecasts on Finnish economy.

Helsinki (06.02.2009 - Juhani Artto) This Monday the Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen voiced his criticism of most Finnish Members of the European Parliament, in relation to the recent voting on the working hour directive. Only two Finnish MEPs supported the proposal, approved by the Council of Ministers and, according to Vanhanen, overwhelmingly approved in Finland across party lines.

Vanhanen's statement was indiscreet and undervalued the rules of democracy, the staff members of the EWCs of eight large Finnish forest industry companies (Stora Enso, UPM, M-real etc.) claimed at their meeting on Thursday. Vanhanen's interference in the independent consideration and voting behaviour of the MEPs, elected by the Finnish people, also shows lack of expertise, the union representatives said.

They wondered whether this was a clumsy attempt by Vanhanen to raise his political profile by walking over the democratically elected representatives in relation to EU matters.

Helsinki (04.02.2009 - Juhani Artto) This Monday the Council of Finnish Industrial Unions TP published an initiative that would facilitate a negotiated agreement, between all labour market organisations, to boost the competitiveness of companies and maintain purchasing power of wage and salary earners.

The agreement would create a peaceful atmosphere for the labour market in the difficult years ahead, TP argues. The agreement would also prevent the worst -case scenario from materialising- mass unemployment.

TP has invited the employer organisations of the industrial sectors and the service sector employer organisations, closely connected with the industry, to negotiations that will take place on 25 February. The goal of the meeting will be to establish whether it’s possible to find common ground in a process that would lead to such an agreement.

Helsinki (27.01.2009 - Juhani Artto) The two largest unions involved in the six industrial unions' amalgamation project (TEAM) will soon decide their respective positions towards the whole project.

Rank and file members of the Chemical Workers' Union will vote on the issue from 5 to 19 February, in a vote which will be binding. And during the same time frame the Metalworkers' Union will hold a consultative referendum but its leaders have promised to honour the position of the majority.

Helsinki (26.01.2009 - Juhani Artto) The major labour market parties announced on Thursday that they have reached common understanding on a few changes in unemployment benefits and the financing of pensions. The organisations behind the proposals are the union confederations SAK, STTK and Akava and the employers' Confederation of Finnish Industry (EK).

The package is a compromise on important social policy issues that have in recent times been under discussion. Some of the issues concerned are also being dealt with by the SATA committee, which is preparing a comprehensive reform of the Finnish social welfare system.

Reactions to the proposals have mainly been positive, especially in the trade union movement. For the latter the negotiations and their outcome are seen as a continuation of the comprehensive income policy agreements.

Helsinki (06.01.2009 - Juhani Artto) At the of November 2008, the number of laid-off employees totalled 12,500, which was three times more than a month earlier.

Total number of registered unemployed jobseekers was 201,200. Of them 40,100 had been unemployed without interruption for more than a year. The number had reduced by 7,300 from November 2007.

Helsinki (30.06.2008 - Juhani Artto) Late May brought to light serious disagreements that may derail the project, known as TEAM, with the intended purpose of amalgamating six industrial unions.

The six unions involved in amalgamation preparations are (rank and file members 1 January 2007)
The Chemical Workers' Union (47,600)
The Electrical Workers' Union (32,300)
The Media Union (24,200)
The Metalworkers' Union (165,500)
The Railway Workers' Union (14,500)
The Wood and Allied Workers' Union (45,600)

Strong doubts about the future of the venture have been expressed by Matti Alakoski, the President of the Electrical Workers Union, and Timo Vallittu, the President of the Chemical Workers' Union. Both of them criticise certain conditions approved by the Congress of the Metalworkers'Union.