Following the SAK Executive Council meeting on 27th September, Lauri Ihalainen, the President of SAK said that at this stage neither sufficient commitment nor coverage from amongst the SAK affiliated unions, can be found to make it feasible to commence negotiations for a centralised agreement.

- Attempting to reach an agreement on an incomes policy is a very difficult project in itself and mutual support is required from the very outset in order to enable it to succeed. Unfortunately, we do not at present have this support, he said.

Since last spring Lauri Ihalainen has put in a great deal of extremely hard work in order to secure a third successive centralised labour market agreement in Finland. According to him, this would have provided the best possible support for an improvement to the rate of employment, would have sustained a steady increase in the spending power of those already in employment and would have maintained the low inflation rate which is a requirement of membership of EMU. Additionally SAK had anticipated the inclusion of a clause which would have strengthened the demand for the terms and conditions of the collective agreement to be generally binding.

Low inflation and positive progress in the rate of employment are requirements which must also be given consideration during the union level bargaining rounds, although neither the employers' nor the employees' organisations, and least of all the trade unions, can be held to be solely responsible for the rate of employment.

- Agreements at union level will not, as a rule, have a catastrophic impact on the national economy or on employment, since such agreements must also reflect the changed circumstances brought about by membership of EMU, emphasised Lauri Ihalainen.

Incomes Policy obstructed by sectoral problems

A majority of the SAK affiliated unions, early this autumn stated that they were willing to participate in a centralised collective agreement. At the present time ten trade unions prefer decentralised union level bargaining rounds. These unions in total represent approximately one quarter of all SAK members. Of the unions which represent industrial workers, and who intend to go about these matters in their own way, are the Finnish Paperworkers' Union, the Chemical Workers' Union in Finland, the Finnish Foodstuffs Workers Union and the Finnish Electricians Union. Three transport sector unions, namely the Transport Workers' Union, the Aviation Workers' Union IAU and the Finnish Seamen's Union, are of the opinion that on this occasion it would be better to make an attempt to solve their sectoral problems through union level bargaining.

The Government as an employer has its own difficulties, which derive from the privatisation and the commercialisation of the public sector services. For this reason the Finnish Post Office Workers' Union, the Finnish Railway Officers' Union and the Train Drivers' Union are also in favour of a union level bargaining round. Sectoral problems, which these unions feel will be impossible to solve within an incomes policy framework and therefore in the absence of the possibility of industrial action, form the common denominator for those unions which aim to embark on their own bargaining rounds. Pay structures, outsourcing and the pricing of labour contribute to these problems.

 The employers avoided taking any responsibility

SAK President Lauri Ihalainen has, throughout the autumn, tried to coerce both the unions and the employers into starting discussions on these sectoral problems in order to make room for a tripartite incomes policy agreement which would be favourable to the rate of employment. He proposed recently that an incomes policy framework should be constructed whilst simultaneously negotiations should be commenced which are dedicated to solving sectoral problems. This initiative was however rejected by the employers.

Mr Ihalainen is also of the opinion that the huge bonus payments made to company directors have had a negative effect on the general attitude towards accepting a tripartite incomes policy agreement.

The current collective agreements will remain valid until the 15th of January 2000 and thus there is still time for new moves to be made in the labour market. Mr Ihalainen says that something which is radically new is necessary before any negotiations for a centralised collective agreement can be expected to start, although SAK cannot see any such initiative on the horizon.