Finland’s business leaders and trade unions have commenced negotiations for new collective agreements that will replace those set to expire in the months ahead. As such this will be the second time decentralized negotiations are held since 2016 when employers unilaterally decided to shift talks down to sector level. The first decentralized negotiations in 2016 took place against a backdrop of economic crisis that had forced trade unions to accept a competitiveness pact comprising inter alia a freeze in salaries and an increase on working time (c.f. article No. 9603)*. The situation today is different. The Prime Minister of the center-left government is a former trade union leader at Finland’s principal union confederation the SAK, something that could play into the hands of the unions. A lack of economic growth is no longer a valid argument for employers that used it in the spring of 2018 in their call for a salary freeze. Negotiations can thus be expected to be tense and tough with trade unions seeking payback for the sacrifices they made in the last two years.
As with Sweden, and as was the case two years ago, negotiations taking place in those sectors most affected by international competition, notably in the technology sector industries that employ some 300,000, are likely to set the tone for the other sector negotiations. Technology sector agreements expire in November 2019, however negotiations are difficult because employers are looking for the Competitiveness Pact to be strengthened, while the trade unions want it to disappear.
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