60 YEARS SINCE THE 'BETROTHAL' OF FINNISH EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES
—agreement reached during air raids

Building up trust

The relationship between the organisations of employers and employees had been extremely strained following the Civil War of 1918. It was only after the start of the Winter War that this changed. The leaders of both the Central Organisation of Finnish Employers, STK, and the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, SAK, were on several occasions obliged to sit around the same table. The relationship between the organisations was discussed, along with other topics, in a variety of formal meetings as well as during other numerous, informal gatherings. The manifest willingness of the working people and the trade union movement to defend the independence of Finland quickly dispelled the prejudice felt by the employers' side against SAK.

At that time a special office was established in Helsinki to deal with Finnish foreign transport and these premises became an important meeting place for the STK and SAK leaderships. Meetings were frequently held into the small hours and even right through the night. Under these circumstances trust and confidential relationships which lasted a lifetime were forged between the leaders of SAK and STK. This had a significant effect on the development of the social partnership in Finland.

The Minister for Social Affairs, K-A. Fagerholm, of the Social Democratic party, became an advocate for the development of social partnership. As the Chairman of the Union of Commercial Employees and a member of the Administrative Council of SAK, he was an experienced trade unionist. Unifying the nation, respecting the rights of the worker, and improving social conditions was central to his thinking. Fagerholm, in his concept of patriotism, included the conditions in which people lived and worked. His starting point was that labour market issues should be dealt with, as far as possible, through negotiations between the social partners. Both SAK and STK were of the opinion that retaining freedom of action for the employees' and the employers' organisations was essential, in normal times and under exceptional circumstances.

Negotiations in the midst of air-raids

In early January 1940, K-A Fagerholm initiated negotiations between SAK and STK. At that time he left collective agreements bargaining outside the discussions. The negotiations, which were started on the 17^th of January, were conducted in dramatic circumstances. The warplanes of the Red Army were relentless in their bombing of Helsinki. Nobody knew what the future of Finland would be. Maintaining Finnish independence was the vital mutual aim and a strong national consensus of opinion was essential for this.

A declaration was negotiated between the Managing Director of STK, Antti Hackzell; the Chairman of the Executive Board, Åke Gartz; the President of SAK, Eero A. Wuori; and Minister for Social Affairs, K-A. Fagerholm. Due to the constant bombing the negotiations were conducted in the Restaurant König as it was situated in a basement, beneath a strong vaulted roof, obviating the need for the negotiators to dash to an air-raid shelter at frequent intervals.

Declaration regarding negotiating relations

The text for the declaration was finalised on the 23^rd of January 1940 and it ran as follows:

'The representatives of the Central Organisation of Finnish Employers and those of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions have conducted negotiations with one another, and as a result it has been agreed that the said central organisations, acknowledging the importance of freely operating organisations within society, will in future confidently negotiate on all issues within their sector in order to find, whenever possible, mutually acceptable solutions.' The declaration was broadcast on the radio news on the evening of the day it was finalised and was the following day duly published in the newspapers.

As Eero. A. Wuori, the President of SAK emphasised, the commencement of these negotiations contributed to the building of a Western democratic society. Mr Wuori underlined the fact that the ability to cooperate on a national level was a decisive prerequisite for the success of a small country. For SAK it was important that the freedom to organise was acknowledged in the declaration, but a collective bargaining system, which had been SAK's highest target, was not achieved. A general agreement between SAK and STK was signed in April 1944, but the time to agree collective bargaining did not arrive until after the end of the Second World War.

Acknowledging SAK as a social partner was on principle a difficult step for the employers. STK was aware, however, that it was not possible to return to the old practices of the labour market. STK demanded that no judgement should be passed on the previous policies of the employers, and additionally that SAK should not be granted the sole right to represent employees.

The Government regarded the foundation of a social partnership, in the form of a negotiating relationship between the organisations of both employees and employers, as significant for the whole of society. The cooperation between the social partners and the Government, which had started during the Finnish Winter War, was instrumental, in that many serious issues which had a direct bearing on the fate of the country could be handled after the War by means of negotiations and agreements.

International background

The foundation of a negotiating partnership between SAK and STK strengthened the foreign image of Finland as a democracy. The 'January betrothal' provided a signal, both to the West and to Moscow. Finland was fighting its gruelling war alone. It received no military assistance whatsoever. In this situation, both international support and public opinion are important factors, and the links that SAK had established abroad proved invaluable. Eero A. Wuori, the President of SAK, travelled both to Stockholm on several occasions and to Oslo, during the War years, to provide information on the current situation in Finland.

As soon as the War had started in Finland, the Swedish trade union movement and the Swedish employers' federation commenced a vast civil campaign for the support of the Finnish people. The Swedish Central Trade Union Organisation, LO, had a significant role in arranging aid, and the support given to the Finns by the Norwegian trade union movement was also noteworthy. SAK received financial aid, for relief purposes, from the International Federation of Trade Unions and also for example, from the USA and Holland.

Several international trade union delegations visited Finland in January 1940 and upon their return home they widely distributed information on the Finnish situation. Representatives of the leaderships of the central organisations of trade unions in Sweden and in Norway came to Finland in January 1940, just around the time of the negotiations between SAK and STK. They also saw for themselves the frontier of the war zone. This visit attracted a great deal of attention, both in Finland itself and in the other Nordic countries. In addition to this, British trade union leaders came to Finland in January 1940, this delegation being headed by Sir Walter Citrine, the General Secretary of the TUC, who was also the President of the International Federation of Trade Unions. This visit by the British trade union delegation was a major event which was widely reported in the press. Pravda published a caustic report of this visit.

The Finnish Winter War came to an end on the 13^th of March 1940, with the 'Peace of Moscow' at the cost of surrendering large areas of Finland to the USSR.

Ms Marjaana Valkonen is a Development Manager in SAK. She is also a historian and has compiled a history of SAK, of which Parts I and II have so far been published.