Archive

Helsinki (23.02.2011 - Juhani Artto) In mid' February representatives of the largest union confederations* of the five Nordic countries and the official Chinese union organization ACFTU held a two-day seminar in Helsinki. Under discussion were major global issues, such as the economic crisis, unemployment, corporate social responsibility and collective bargaining. Also climate change, migration and international cooperation of the trade union movement were on the agenda.

"The world has changed and mutual dependence has grown. China now plays a central role in the global economy and this is something that the Nordic countries must also recognise", Lauri Lyly, the President of the host organization SAK stated in his opening speech.

Helsinki (22.02.2011 - Juhani Artto) The EU's plan to grab the right to control collective bargaining taking place in the Member States has been turned down outright by the Finnish trade union movement. This was the message of Mikko Mäenpää in his radio interview broadcasted on Monday morning by Yle. Mäenpää is the President of the Finnish Confederation of Professional STTK and a steering committee member of the European Trade Union Confederation ETUC.

He urges Finnish politicians to ensure that the EU will not intervene in working life matters at national level. Intervention on bargaining and pay levels would be steps in a wrong direction and would be opposed by the entire trade union movement, Mäenpää stresses.

Helsinki (18.02.2011 - Juhani Artto) The Service Union United PAM has declared a three-day strike, to begin on Wednesday 2 March, at the security company Securitas. The strike is in protest against the company's deliberate action, which the union claims is designed to complicate collective bargaining negotiations which are underway in the security industry. The previous collective agreement for the industry expired on 31 January 2011.

"The company has interrogated and put pressure on employees and shop stewards who have participated in industrial action. Securitas has also sent its employees a message where it urges them to leave PAM and to search for an alternative to it", explains Ann Selin, the President of PAM.

Helsinki (02.02.2011 - Juhani Artto) Last Thursday, three Finnish union confederations - SAK, STTK and Akava –in a joint effort- issued a statement condemning the arrests and maul-handling of protesters after the December presidential elections in Belarus. Among those arrested were union activists and a number of those arrested are still imprisoned, the confederations say.

They are now urging the EU to put pressure on Belarus to implement the ILO's recommendations on Belarus. The recommendations concern the implementation of ILO conventions on organizing and collective bargaining rights.

Helsinki (26.01.2011 - Juhani Artto) The Finnish-Swedish forest industry company Stora Enso announced on Tuesday that it will adhere to the decision made by the High Court in December 2010. It means that the company will finally pay performance bonuses to employees whose bonuses it had withheld because of their participation in strikes in 2005-2009. 

The dispute originates from spring 2006 when Stora Enso refused to pay performance bonuses to employees who had taken part in the industrial action organized by their trade unions. In December 2010 the High Court declared that the employer cannot contravene or place restrictions on the right to strike by limiting employees' right to performance bonuses because of their participation in strikes organized by trade unions.

Helsinki (17.01.2011 - Juhani Artto) The fight against the grey economy has taken an important step forward with the new initiatives being proposed by the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK. The powerful employer central organisation wants to make tax identification numbers mandatory for all persons working in the construction industry.

"Foreign workers would have to obtain their tax identification number from the tax office before being allowed onto construction sites in Finland. Tax identification numbers would allow the Finnish tax authorities to monitor how long each foreign worker is staying in Finland. This would clarify whether or not the person would have to pay taxes in Finland", EK says.

Helsinki (03.01.2011 - Juhani Artto) In the last few years thousands of employees have lost their jobs as a result of pulp and paper mill closures. Esa Kaitila, a researcher working at The Paperworkers' Union, calculates that since 2006 over 4,000 of its rank and file members have lost their jobs due to closures.

Director Markku Palokangas from the largest union of salaried employees PRO estimates that in the same period from 1,500 to 2,000 salaried employee jobs have been eliminated in the pulp and paper industry. 

A new study provides detailed information on how the workers of the closed mills in Hamina (Summa), Kajaani and Kemijärvi have fared in the labour market following the closures. Not well, as was indeed expected already 2-3 years ago when the closure plans were announced.

Helsinki (30.12.2010 - Juhani Artto) Ann Selin, the President of the Service Union United PAM, has 26 wishes for the New Year. They are as follows.

TU (23.12.2010 - Juhani Artto) On Wednesday the High Court ordered Stora Enso to pay to its 200 salaried employees at the Oulu and Anjalankoski mills over EUR200,000. This verdict finally brought resolution to a dispute originating from spring 2006.

Then Stora Enso refused to pay performance bonuses to salaried employees who had taken part in the industrial action organized by their trade unions. The strike was a protest against the thousands of dismissals in the forest industry.

"The High Court's decision affirmed an important judicial principle", says Antti Rinne, the President of the Union of Salaried Employees TU.

Helsinki (20.12.2010 - Juhani Artto) Since the late 1960s three-tier cooperation between the government and the labour market organizations has been an important element in the promotion of economic growth and in the development of the Finnish welfare system. Now there are serious signs of deterioration in this three-tier cooperation endeavour.

Therefore, it is no small wonder that the Presidents of the two largest union confederations, SAK's Lauri Lyly and STTK's Mikko Mäenpää, have become alarmed by this trend. They have sought to analyse what has been happening in the latest issues of their organizations' magazines, Palkkatyöläinen and sttklehti.

The present government (2010-), and the one before it (2007-2010), were keen to cultivate the idea that they were supporters of three-tier cooperation but their deeds have not always lived up to these assurances. These two governments set up dozens of three-tier task forces but neither have respected the results of their findings nor been committed to their proposals.