Finland
Background information on industrial relations in Finland
- 09 Dec 2011
Finland: Social partners agree national pay settlementSocial partners have worked out a tripartite framework for a new centralised national agreement on wages and conditions. The 25-month agreement offers a 4.3% pay increase with a lump sum payment of €150 in January 2012. It also covers issues affecting the quality of working life. The government is supporting the agreement with tax reliefs worth €400 million. The agreement will only take effect if sectoral coverage is 100%, with 25 November the deadline for negotiations.
- 12 Oct 2011
Finland: Unions fight over IT sector employeesFinland’s association of IT sector employees is leaving the Federation of Special Service and Clerical Employees (ERTO) to join the Union of Professional Engineers in Finland (UIL), with the aim of strengthening its bargaining power. This has sparked a dispute between unions, as ERTO is set to lose a third of its members. ERTO says the IT association has acted arbitrarily, but Jouko Malinen, Chair of the association, said that the transfer had been contemplated for some time.
- 18 Aug 2011
Finland: Two new studies on unionisation and collective agreement coverageThe Ministry of Employment and the Economy has published two studies on unionisation and the coverage of collective agreements in Finland. The studies found that in 2008 the coverage of collective agreements in the private sector was 73.1%. The share of employees covered by these collective agreements in the private sector was 85%. With the inclusion of the public sector, where collective agreements cover all employees, the average coverage was 89.5% of employees.
- 16 Aug 2011
Finland: New six-party coalition government formedPresident Tarja Halonen appointed a new six-party government led by Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen on 22 June 2011. The new government’s programme has been welcomed by the unions but the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) says it is disappointed with the programme. According to the EK, it does not do enough to restore competitiveness, strengthen economic growth and balance the public finances. The EK criticised the government’s proposed tax policies in particular.
- 01 Aug 2011
Finland: Finland: The representativeness of trade unions and employer associations in the banking sectorIn 2008 aggregate employment in Finland’s banking sector was about 32,000. In the sector only one employer association, the EK-affiliated Federation of Finnish Financial Services (Finanssialan Keskusliitto, FK) organises companies and there are two trade unions: the STTK-affiliated Trade Union Suora and the Finnish Association of Business School Graduates (Ekonomiliitto, Sefe). In collective bargaining, the AKAVA’s negotiating body, the Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff (YTN), represents higher-ranking Sefe employees in the banking sector. The above organisations have conducted a joint collective agreement in the sector.
- 01 Aug 2011
Finland: Finland: EIRO CAR on ‘Helping young workers during the crisis: contributions by social partners and public authorities.’Between 2008 and 2009, the unemployment rate has risen in all age groups. However, measured with the unemployment rate, unemployment among persons in the 15 to 24 age group is in a class of its own. In 2009, the unemployment rate was 20.3 per cent among young persons. The number of unemployed young persons was also the highest, at 69,000, when compared with other ten-year age cohorts. In spring 2009, due to the increased unemployment rate amongst young workers, the governments introduced wage subsidies targeted at young school leavers and those who cannot find a job. Then a new kind of arrangement, the so-called Sanssi card was introduced, giving employers the right to have some of the employees' salary covered by the state. The idea is to lower the threshold for employing young people. The subsidy covers both normal jobs and apprenticeships. In October 2010, social partners released a tripartite joint program for securing employment and economic growth including several issues which purpose is to help young workers during the crisis.
- 29 Jul 2011
Finland: Representativeness study of the European social partner organisations: Education sector – FinlandThe aim of this representativeness study is to identify the respective national and supranational actors (i.e. trade unions and employer organisations) in the field of industrial relations in the education sector in Finland. In order to determine their relative importance in the sector’s industrial relations, this study will, in particular, focus on their representational quality as well as on their role in collective bargaining.
- 19 Jul 2011
Finland: Social partners disagree on fines for illegal industrial actionThe Finnish Labour Court has imposed fines on two trade unions for industrial action taken in spring 2010. During the past decade, the curbing of illegal strikes has been an important issue for employers and the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK). The employers’ side believes that fines should be larger to deter illegal strikes and to reflect the heavy financial losses caused by illegal strikes. So far, attempts to amend strike legislation have proved very difficult.
- 15 Jul 2011
Finland: Union says temporary agency workers need representationService Union United has criticised employer associations representing companies that employ temporary agency workers, for not reaching collective agreements at company or sector level over union representation. The union says improving the position for temporary agency workers is particularly important and challenging, and that giving shop stewards the right to represent these temporary agency workers in the workplace would be an important first step.
- 06 Jul 2011
Finland: New collective agreements for public sector employeesNew collective agreements for state and municipal employees were reached in February. In the municipal sector the agreement affects about 430,000 local government employees and around 88,000 workers in the state sector. Municipal workers have been offered a general pay increase of 1.2%, an additional 0.8% to be allocated following local negotiations and a one-off bonus of €100 for many employee groups in May. Central government workers will receive an increase of 1.3%.
- 14 Jun 2011
Finland: Finland: Representativeness study of the European social partners organisations – Public administration sectorIn 2007 there were about 127,000 employees in Finland’s public administration sector. Two employers’ organisation (VTML and KT) represent the central and local public administration sector. There is a high level of union membership among employees in the sector, and stiff competition among the public sector trade unions, because an employee has a choice between several unions. Members of JHL, Pardia and Jyty could be members of any of these three trade unions.
- 05 May 2011
Finland: Prime Minister calls for tripartite cooperationFinland’s Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi has called for wage coordination and a framework for moderate collective agreements negotiated on a tripartite basis. She said that a tripartite programme, lasting over the next two electoral periods, is needed to improve the competitiveness of Finnish labour, and to promote growth and investment. Trade unions welcomed the proposal, saying that they, employers and ministers need to have ‘a common script’ for their objectives.
- 11 Feb 2011
Finland: Doubts over Finland’s state productivity programmeFinland’s audit office recently announced that a programme to improve public sector productivity had failed. The programme’s basic aim was to cut down on the replacement of retiring employees, gradually reducing the number of public sector workers. In view of the audit office finding, the parliamentary audit committee and trade unions have called for the programme to be scrapped. But the Finance Ministry has defended it, saying it can only be evaluated in the long term.
- 20 Jan 2011
Finland: Working group on strike reform falls apartA tripartite working group, expected to propose new laws on industrial action, unravelled when the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (SAK) and the Confederation of Professionals (STTK) withdrew. The Confederation of Finnish Industry (EK) expressed astonishment that this should happen in the final phase of negotiations after a unanimous conclusion had apparently been reached. SAK and STTK insist that they will not accept any restriction on a worker’s right to strike.
- 11 Jan 2011
Finland: Finland: EIRO Annual Review 2009In 2009, three themes dominated the discussion in Finnish industrial relations: the sectoral bargaining round, the pensions’ reform and lenghtening of career and the controversy over the funding of the election campaigns of the political parties where both trade unions and employers organisation had a notable role.
- 10 Jan 2011
Finland: Cooperation Ombudsman starts workThe act establishing the post of Cooperation Ombudsman was drafted by a tripartite working group and came into force in Finland on 1 July 2010. The Cooperation Ombudsman oversees compliance with legislation on workplace cooperation and other arrangements concerning industrial democracy in the private sector. Lawyer Helena Lamponen of the Akava-affiliated Central Union for Special Branches (Akavan Erityisalat) has been appointed the first Cooperation Ombudsman.