TEK, together with other YTN unions and Tietoala ry (Association of IT Sector Employees), has been negotiating new collective agreements throughout November, but the unions were unable to reach a settlement with the employer’s representatives in any of the industries before the old agreements expired.
Of these collective agreements, the ones for the technology industries, the consulting sector and the ICT sector are generally binding, meaning that they are applicable to all companies and employees in the industry. YTN IT services industry and Tietoala ry are negotiating for a normally binding national collective agreement for the IT services industry that would then only apply to the member companies of the Technology Industry Employers of Finland and their employees.
In the technology industry, textual issues have more or less been resolved, but the disagreement over salary increases was so severe that the negotiations are now on hold. Negotiations concerning the consulting sector are still ongoing in December. As for the IT services industry, an agreement has not yet been reached on paid family leave and various other textual matters. The differences of opinion as to salary increases were also great in this industry. The next negotiation meeting has been scheduled for 14 December 2022.
Collective agreements are significant for salaried employees in the sense that they determine holiday bonuses, index increases, longer paid sick leave, paid family leave and compensation for commuting expenses, among other things. These terms do not come from Finnish legislation. However, the expiration of the current agreements does not affect the terms of employment. All the provisions of the expired agreements are still followed in the workplace due to the so-called ‘after-effect’.
Since no agreement is currently in place, new local agreements cannot be made. Workplaces should note that employment contracts that are concluded as of 1 December cannot refer directly to the expired collective agreement. New employment contracts should state that the expired collective agreement shall apply to the employment until a new collective agreement for the industry has been approved.