The employers’ toughening stance is nothing new. At the end of spring 2016 employers (EK) announced that contrary to the general custom in place since the end of WWII they intended to suspend negotiating national collective agreements. More recently, spurred on by the new EK president, the organization has moved to put an end to all non-company collective agreements, and has also called for salaries to fall, both of which have provoked strong criticism from the unions and are starting to place the government in a delicate situation.
Relations between employers and unions are inexorably sliding towards a clash. At the end of spring 2016, the employers’ body (EK, Confederation of Finnish Industries) announced its intention to discontinue negotiating national level salary agreements. Following a wave of initial outrage against the employers’ unilateral decision the unions finally bent to their will and reorganized themselves so as to adapt to the new situation (c.f. articles No. 9954 and No. 10077).
However, Veli-Matti Mattila
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