The General Council of SAK is content with the incomes policy draft agreement as it is deemed to correspond with the aims which the General Council had laid down in May 2000. This incomes policy solution creates the framework which is required for the continuation of the present stable economic progress, for an improved rate of employment and for the slowing of inflation. Furthermore, the pay policy which is defined by this agreement is equitable and holds significance for every employee in the low and middle income brackets. The world of work will feel the benefit of the new measures which will give a firm foundation to the maintenance of vocational skills and which will help the workers to better manage their workloads. The proposed increase in unemployment benefit is a particularly valued element of the draft agreement.
The General Council of SAK convened on the 24th and 25th of November at the SAK College in Kiljava, some 50 kilometres from Helsinki.
In order to ensure the eventual implementation of this incomes policy, the Council emphasised the importance of sectoral collective agreements being reviewed on the basis of the tripartite negotiation results. The employers must now fulfil their obligations and ensure that the resultant union level bargaining is conducted in a spirit of fairness and without delay.
The General Council of SAK is now calling on the Government to ensure that the results gained from economic growth will be fairly distributed at the different social levels. Basic social services, which are important for general wellbeing, such as healthcare and care for the elderly, must be secured, whilst the remaining inadequacies of the unemployment benefit system should be rectified.
Vital service sectors should stay in State ownership
The General Council of SAK stated that national assets, which are the property of all, should be properly cared for. Any proposed sale or privatisation of state owned assets should first be subjected to careful scrutiny and a financial feasibility study. The effect on the workforce of any such disposal should also be taken into account. State ownership and decision-making authority should be retained in all strategically vital sectors of the economy, such as, for example, energy.
In October, the Government introduced to Parliament a new contract of employment bill. SAK considers the clause in this bill, which deals with the generally binding nature of collective agreements, as an acceptable compromise. The SAK General Council emphasise the need for this new bill to be passed through Parliament without delay and in the form in which it was introduced by the Government.
SAK and the enlargement of the EU
The General Council of SAK has debated the enlargement of the European Union. The Council is of the opinion that securing Finnish terms and conditions of work in general is of vital importance to employees in Finland whilst the enlargement of the EU is in progress. The enlargement negotiations have now reached the stage at which examination is being made as to whether or not the labour market standards of the applicant countries fulfil the EU criteria. The General Council has instructed the Executive Committee of SAK to prepare, before the coming New Year, a statement on SAK's view of the enlargement of the EU and of the issues which are of importance to the trade union movement within this context.
SAK Congress to be held on 28th to 30th May 2001
The Kiljava College meeting was the last to be held by this General Council. The SAK Congress is convened at five year intervals, the next one being held from 28th to 30th of May 2001. The Congress will then elect the SAK President, the General Council and the Executive Committee. The General Council currently consists of 125 delegates and has three chairpersons. All of the SAK affiliated unions are represented in the General Council.
Hilkka Jukarainen
