One of SAK's goals, as a means of raising the rate of employment, is that of a fair and humane world of work. Life-long learning is seen by SAK as being of vital importance. This would require an increase in those funds that are reserved for adult education and an improvement in the opportunities that are provided for sitting vocational examinations. A further requirement would be that plans for personnel training and career development are drafted for the different sectors of industry, and that the employer accepts greater responsibility for the training of his workforce. In addition to all this, SAK proposes that companies should also establish training funds.

In order to assist the employee in coping with the workload, SAK is demanding more cooperation at the workplace, the continuation of job-sharing schemes and a general recommendation for a switch from short-term contracts to permanent jobs. In addition to the above demands, SAK is recommending that minimum working hours are applied to part-time workers and also that the annual holiday entitlement is equally applied to those who are engaged on short-term contracts. Ascension Day, which invariably falls on a Thursday, is a public holiday in Finland, and SAK is currently requesting that the Saturday which follows Ascension Day is treated as a non-working day, with this to have no effect on pay. SAK would also like to see a more efficient monitoring of overtime working.

The remuneration for the shop steward should be increased, and arrangements should be properly made for a substitute worker to take over, in order to ensure that there is sufficient time available for the shop steward to represent the interests of the workforce. SAK is also demanding that the shop steward is provided with both a mobile phone and a PC with Internet connection.

From the Government, SAK is now looking forward to a package which will improve the rate of employment, along with a greater number of schemes for building new homes, and an increase in the rate of social security benefits.

Consensus on a centralised incomes policy agreement

There is a general consensus on the desirability of achieving a wide-ranging national incomes policy agreement in Finland. The Government and the federations of the employers, along with the trade union movement as a whole, are all anxious to achieve a cohesive incomes policy agreement. According to a recent survey, the general public would prefer a national incomes policy agreement, as opposed to separate collective agreements for each sector of industry. Some 66% of the population would support a centralised national agreement. A survey has been conducted by SAK which demonstrated that, in the bargaining of this autumn, the goal with the highest priority will be that of an improved rate of employment, whilst the second most important item was seen to be the maintenance of a good level of social security.

The employers in the industrial sector have already announced that pay rises in Finland should not be in excess of those of the other EU countries. Forestry industry employers are of the opinion that a ceiling, for an increase in labour costs, should be set at 2%.

The incomes policy bargaining is due to commence shortly, and it is the aim of SAK to reach an agreement within a couple of months. When this agreement has been made, the various sectoral trade unions will have the opportunity to join the incomes policy agreement and they will then be free to review their own collective agreements on their terms and conditions of work. The current collective agreements for the majority of employees in Finland will stay in force until the end of January 2001.