Finland
Background information on industrial relations in Finland
- 24 Dec 2003
Finland: Unions hold day of action against redundancies<#PDF_LINK>On 12 December 2003, Finland's three trade union confederations - SAK, STTK and AKAVA - organised a joint day of action to express their concerns about the large-scale redundancies that have recently taken place in Finnish companies. The action included 15-minute work stoppages, street events and the collection of signatures on an appeal to the government and employers.
- 18 Dec 2003
Finland: Study finds that 'education pays'<#PDF_LINK>The question of whether it pays to study longer or is more profitable to enter the labour market at a young age is an important question in Finland, where income redistribution via the tax system and income transfers is strong, even if studying is mainly free of fees. Research published in November 2003 finds that education does pay, as the wage level rises and the risk of unemployment falls as the level of education increases. Lifelong earnings are higher for highly educated people than for those with a low level of education.
- 15 Dec 2003
Finland: Thematic feature - redundancies and redundancy costs<#PDF_LINK>This article examines the procedures and costs involved in collective redundancies in Finland, as well as current trends and debate in this area, as at November 2003.
- 01 Dec 2003
Finland: Finnish firms' foreign investment and employment abroad examined<#PDF_LINK>In November 2003, the Finnish government announced a reform of corporate taxation, aimed at keeping more companies and jobs in Finland in the face of international tax competition. The reform comes at a time when new statistics indicate the growing extent to which Finnish-based firms are investing and employing workers in foreign countries, often those where labour costs and taxation are lower than in Finland and which are close to major new markets.
- 18 Nov 2003
Finland: Thematic feature - social partner involvement in the 2003 NAP<#PDF_LINK>This article examines social partner involvement in the preparation of Finland’s 2003 National Action Plan for employment drawn up in response to the EU Employment Guidelines.
- 11 Nov 2003
Finland: Telecom operator Elisa cuts 900 jobs<#PDF_LINK>In October 2003, the Finnish-based telecommunications company, Elisa, announced plans to cut 900 jobs from its 7,300-strong workforce. The news brought strong reactions from staff and trade unions and provoked debate about large companies' employment policies and the Act on Cooperation within Undertakings, which provides for workforce consultation on issues such as job losses.
- 28 Oct 2003
Finland: Recent trends and future prospects in gender equality<#PDF_LINK>Equality between men and women is widely thought to be advanced in Finland. Women are well educated and their labour market participation is high, while strict equality legislation has been in force for many years. However, women still earn less than men, the labour market is strongly segregated on gender lines, and young women face particular difficulties in finding open-ended employment. This article provides an overview of the gender equality situation in 2003.
- 22 Oct 2003
Finland: Thematic feature - works councils and other workplace employee representation and participation structures<#PDF_LINK>This article examines the Finnish situation, as of September 2003, with regard to works councils and similar workplace employee representation and participation structures. It looks at the regulatory framework, statistical data, evidence on practice and the views of the social partners.
- 08 Oct 2003
Finland: Employers’ organisations plan to merge in 2005<#PDF_LINK>In September 2003, Finland's two main employers' confederations - the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers (TT) and the Employers´ Federation of Service Industries (PT) - announced that are studying the possibility of merging by 2005.
- 23 Sep 2003
Finland: Performance-related pay spreads in industry<#PDF_LINK>Since the early 1990s, new and increasingly flexible wage systems have spread throughout the Finnish industrial sector, based on the idea that making pay more dependent on the economic results of the firm improves incentives for cooperation and efficiency. A study published in August 2003, based on empirical data, finds a positive correlation between performance-related pay and productivity in industrial firms.
- 11 Sep 2003
Finland: Thematic feature - implementation of the EU framework equal treatment Directive<#PDF_LINK>This article examines the Finnish situation, as of August 2003, with regard to the implementation and impact of the 2000 EU Directive establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, which seeks to combat discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation.
- 08 Sep 2003
Finland: SAK publishes employment programme<#PDF_LINK>In August 2003, the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) published anemployment programme, proposing measures to raise labour market participation rates, increase employment and cut unemployment. The programme deals with matters such as economic policy, taxation, education and the ageing labour force. One of the main ideas is to promote earlier entrance to the labour market through a more efficient education system.
- 19 Aug 2003
Finland: Study examines views on wage bargaining system<#PDF_LINK>In June 2003, two research institutes published a joint study of the views of employers, employees and their respective organisations on the problems and future prospects of the Finnish wage bargaining system. The findings of the questionnaire-based survey indicate a relatively wide consensus on the advantages of the present, largely centralised, system
- 04 Aug 2003
Finland: Disappointing results for 'job hunter' experiment<#PDF_LINK>Since 2002, the Finnish Ministry of Labour has been running a three-year experiment of using privatejob huntersto find work for long-term unemployed people By mid-2003, the results have been very modest compared with the targets and the experiment might be ended before its official term.
- 23 Jul 2003
Finland: New rules proposed on workplace privacy<#PDF_LINK>In June 2003, a working group set up by the Finnish Ministry of Labour issued a proposal for new legislation defining and limiting employers’ rights to use drug tests and video surveillance and to read employees' e-mails. The proposed new rules are intended to complete a law on workplace privacy which was adopted in 2001.
- 22 Jul 2003
Finland: Thematic feature - posted workers<#PDF_LINK>This article examines the Finnish situation, as of June 2003, with regard to: legislation and collective bargaining on the pay and conditions of posted workers (ie workers from one EU Member State posted by their employer to work in another); the number of such posted workers; and the views of the social partners and government on the issue.
- 08 Jul 2003
Finland: Paperworkers’ president to head KEY-Finland in Brussels<#PDF_LINK>In June 2003, the Finnish trade union confederations SAK, STTK and AKAVA invited Jarmo Lähteenmäki, the president of the Finnish Paperworkers’ Union, to become director of KEY-Finland from 1 April 2004. KEY-Finland is the joint mission of the Finnish unions in Brussels.
- 10 Jun 2003
Finland: Gender equality in insurance sector examined<#PDF_LINK>In May 2003, the Insurance Employers’ Association and the Union of Insurance Employees in Finland published a third joint report on gender equality in the Finnish insurance sector. The report, finds that female clerical employees’ monthly wages were 25% lower on average than those of their male colleagues in the sector in 2001. About three-quarters of this difference can be explained by differences in men’s and women’s background factors (such as age, education, and work tasks), while around a quarter of the gender wage differential remains unexplained.
- 20 May 2003
Finland: Over a third of employees would like to change weekly working time<#PDF_LINK>In April 2003, the three Finnish trade union confederations published a joint study on employees’ actual and preferred weekly working hours. It finds that 36% of employees would like to change their weekly working time, even when this would change their earnings accordingly. About 17% would like to work fewer hours and 19% more hours. According to the study, major problems related to working time are a large share of involuntary part-time work and regular working hours that exceed 40 hours per week.
- 07 May 2003
Finland: Last agreements in bargaining round signed following disputes<#PDF_LINK>In March and April 2003, new collective agreements were signed in Finland for the food industry, cargo and passenger ships operating in foreign traffic, and forestry experts. The agreements were reached after difficult negotiations, which involved industrial action on both the employees’ and employers’ side. With these agreements, the spring 2003 bargaining round for the major sectors of the economy is now complete.
- 23 Apr 2003
Finland: Social partners set objectives for new government's policy<#PDF_LINK>Following general elections in March 2003, Finland is to have a new coalition government of the Centre Party, the Social Democratic Party, and the Swedish People’s Party. The social partners have been active in discussions on the new government's policy. Employers’ organisations have been emphasising the need for further tax cuts, while trade unions have emphasised the need to tackle the issues of employment and to adopt a sound policy of tripartite cooperation with the social partners.
- 09 Apr 2003
Finland: Working group proposes extensive package to improve employment<#PDF_LINK>In March 2003, a working group on employment appointed by the Prime Minister published its final report on the economic and employment policy strategies by which the Finnish employment rate could be raised to 75% and unemployment reduced to below 5% by the end of the decade. The proposed actions cover policy areas such as innovation and education, economics and taxation, employment and pensions and regional policy. The response of social partners to these proposals has been mixed. Employers’ organisations welcomed proposed tax cuts whereas trade unions rejected proposed cuts in unemployment and pension benefits.
- 02 Apr 2003
Finland: Industry employers want to speed up work-related immigration<#PDF_LINK>In March 2003, the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers (TT) published a survey indicating that companies support actions to promote work-related immigration in Finland. TT member firms that employ foreign workers regard the present work permit system as too bureaucratic, with lengthy processing times and short permits, and want administrative procedures eased. The government submitted a new Aliens Act to parliament in December 2002, but there was insufficient time to discuss it before parliamentary elections took place in March 2003 and the proposal was dropped. TT urges that the proposal should be placed before the new parliament without delay. The new Act would make work permit procedures faster and more flexible, but does not meet all the employers' demands.
- 31 Mar 2003
Finland: New occupational safety legislation in force<#PDF_LINK>A new Occupational Safety Act came into force in Finland on 1 January 2003. According to the Act, employers are obliged to apply safety management methods in all operations, including planning and organising work. Employers are responsible for matching human resources with the volume of work, as well as arranging monitoring of workloads and of the way that these relate to employees' capacity. They also need to take actions to prevent harassment at the workplace. The new legislation seeks to address persistent safety problems in areas such as work-related accidents.
- 27 Mar 2003
Finland: 2002 Annual Review for Finland<#PDF_LINK>This record reviews 2002's main developments in industrial relations in Finland.
- 13 Mar 2003
Finland: Social partners issue joint statement on future of EU<#PDF_LINK>The Finnish social partners have issued a joint statement on the future of the European Union. A position paper signed by all of Finland's trade union and employers' confederations was delivered in February 2003 to the Finnish government and parliament, and to the Finnish members of the European Convention.
- 13 Mar 2003
Finland: New collective agreements signed<#PDF_LINK>In February and early March 2003, after difficult negotiations, new collective agreements were signed for a number of sectors and employee groups which chose not to be part of Finland's two-year centralised incomes policy agreement for 2003-4. Agreements have been signed for sectors such as road transport and the mechanical forestry and carpentry industries and groups such as cabin crew and pharmacists. In general, the wage increases in these new agreements are in line with those in the central agreement.
- 06 Mar 2003
Finland: Union density falls<#PDF_LINK>According to a study published in February 2003, the total number of members of Finnish trade unions increased by 18,000 over 1994-2001, but the number of potential members rose considerably more, by 161,000, leading to a fall in union density of 7.3 percentage points (from 78.5% to 71.2%). The fall in density was more marked among men than among women. The reasons behind this decline in union density include factors related to the business cycle and changes in the structure of the labour force.
- 11 Feb 2003
Finland: New agreement signed in motor trade and repairs<#PDF_LINK>In late January 2003, a two-year collective agreement was reached for the Finnish motor trade and repairs sector when the AKU trade union and AKL employers' organisation accepted a proposal made by the National Conciliator. The agreement runs from March 2003 to March 2005 and is estimated to increase average wage costs by 5.9%-6%.
- 11 Feb 2003
Finland: TT elects new general director<#PDF_LINK>In January 2003, the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers (TT) elected Kalevi Hemilä as its new general director as from August 2003. Johannes Koroma, who has been the general director of TT since its foundation in 1992, will retire at the beginning of 2004.
- 17 Jan 2003
Finland: Social partners disagree on amendments to Equality Act<#PDF_LINK>In November 2002, a Finnish commission examining a reform of the Equality Act submitted its proposals. It recommends a number of measures to strengthen the current provisions on gender equality and combating discrimination. Trade unions are largely in favour of the proposals, while employers are less enthusiastic.
- 17 Jan 2003
Finland: Committee completes examination of 'general validity' of collective agreements<#PDF_LINK>Since new legislation was passed in 2001, a special committee has been examining whether Finland's various sectoral collective agreements should be considered generally valid - ie also applicable to employers and employees that are not members of the signatory organisations. In November 2002, the committee completed its work, ruling that the agreement for the road haulage sector - whose status had previously been unclear - was generally valid.
- 17 Jan 2003
Finland: Seafarers' Union disagrees with report on future of merchant shipping<#PDF_LINK>December 2002 saw the publication of a report on Finland's merchant shipping strategy, commissioned by the Ministry of Communications and Transport. One of the conclusions is that Finland should adopt policies used elsewhere in the EU, which would mean the use of foreign labour on Finnish vessels. The Seafarers' Union disagreed with this and other conclusions of the report, not least because it was not permitted to participate in the preparatory work. Employers took a somewhat more positive view of the report.
- 17 Jan 2003
Finland: TT satisfied with stabilising effect of central agreement but concerned about costs<#PDF_LINK>According to a survey published by the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers (TT) in December 2002, the economic future is uncertain and employment will decline. TT has welcomed the stability brought by the new 2003-4 central incomes policy agreement, but believes that more moderate wage increases combined with tax cuts would have better supported employment growth.
- 09 Jan 2003
Finland: Social partners support proposed tax cuts<#PDF_LINK>In December 2002, two governmental working groups issued their reports on the reform of the Finnish taxation system, which is under pressure because taxes are high by international standards. They recommended that taxation should be cut in order to increase employment. Both employers and trade unions share this view.
- 07 Jan 2003
Finland: Productivity increases rapidly in private services<#PDF_LINK>There has been considerable debate in Finland on the growth of service sector employment and on the provision of services by the public or private sectors. In this context, the Employers' Confederation of Service Industries commissioned a research study in autumn 2002 on the development of productivity. According to the findings, labour productivity in Finland's private services has increased by 60% during the past 20 years. It is believed that the provision of services still has great growth potential in employment terms.