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The main confederations representing salaried employees and academic professionals in
Finland have fallen in line with the pay policy objectives outlined on Tuesday 24th
October by the Central Organisation on of Finnish Trade Unions SAK. The Confederation of
Unions for Academic Professionals AKAVA is seeking pay rises of 3.8 per cent next year
followed by 2.9 per cent in 2002. The Finnish Confederation of Salaried Employees STTK is
demanding a 3.8 per cent pay rise in 2001 and a 3 per cent increase in 2002.The objective of SAK in the current round of incomes policy
negotiations is to achieve monthly pay rises of FIM 330 together with sector-specific
increases of some 0.7 per cent. The impact of the SAK demands on labour costs will be 3.8
per cent in 2001 and 3 per cent in the following year.
The SAK pay demands also include a gender equality
adjustment of 0.4 per cent in 2001, to apply to low pay sectors and to those in which
women form a majority of the workforce. This objective is also supported by the STTK . The
AKAVA, by contrast, is seeking a pay differential of 0.2 per cent for educational
qualifications. This differential would be paid to university graduates earning less than
the FIM 11,630 average monthly wage in Finland.
Employers reject SAK claim
The employers' organisations has rejected the pay claims
first lodged by SAK and subsequently supported by the other employee confederations. The
Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers TT expressed the view that the union
objectives would further fuel inflation in the economy. The Employers’ Confederation
of Service Industries PT has announced that no comprehensive incomes policy agreement will
be reached at the wage rise levels demanded by SAK. The Commission for Local Authority
Employers KT has also expressed its dismay at the pay demands and has threatened that
these would result in redundancies and lay-offs in local government.
The objectives of all of the employee organisations have
now been placed on the incomes policy negotiating table and negotiations are expected to
gather pace next week. The aim is to achieve a centralised agreement in early November.
This will then be followed by sectoral negotiations to approve the agreement reached.
Leena Seretin |
