Tarja Niemelä, chair of the JUKO university advisory board (Finnish Union of University Professors) and Katja Aho, JUKO’s head of collective bargaining, say that the employers’ body has repeatedly refused to make a negotiation proposal in writing.
“The employee side presented its goals for reviews of pay in writing at the very first meeting. A key goal was general pay rises that improve purchasing power. Pay rises must exceed the predicted rate of inflation.”
A cross-party consensus exists in Finland that the country’s current and future success is based on skills, research and innovations. The RDI Finance Act will see the state’s RDI funding rise by around €260 million annually compared to the previous year. We need an environment that incentivizes researchers and innovators. University employees have earned their pay rises.
JUKO is very clear on the matter: when it comes to continuing negotiations, the ball is now in Finnish Education Employers’ court, and the employee side is waiting to be invited back to the table.
If negotiations do not achieve a result concerning salaries by 17 February, the two-year collective agreement may be terminated to expire at the end of March.
In that case, university employees would be without a valid collective agreement as of 1 April. Without a valid collective agreement, the provisions of the old collective agreement are observed, but industrial action is also possible.
The members of Akava trade unions on behalf of whom JUKO negotiates work in roles such as research, teaching, administration and management.
The parties negotiating for a general collective agreement for universities and teacher training schools are: JUKO, the Negotiation Organization for Public Sector Professionals; the Pro Trade Union; JHL, the Trade Union for Public and Welfare Sectors, and Finnish Education Employers.
Follow university negotiations on JUKO's website (in Finnish)
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University facts
Main contractual parties | JUKO; Pro Trade Union; JHL, the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors; and Finnish Education Employers
Collective agreements | Universities’ general collective agreement and the teacher training school collective agreement
Negotiators | Head of Collective Bargaining Katja Aho (JUKO), University Advisory Board Chair and Executive Director Tarja Niemelä (Finnish Union of University Professors), Special Adviser Hanna Tanskanen (Trade Union of Education in Finland, OAJ), Negotiations Manager Petri Toiviainen (Social Science Professionals)
The universities’ general collective agreement covers an approximate 34,000 employees. The members of Akava unions represented by JUKO work at universities in such areas as research, teaching, administration and management.
The universities’ general collective agreement covers an approximate 34,000 employees. The members of Akava unions represented by JUKO work at universities in such areas as research, teaching, administration and management.
JUKO will provide information about the negotiations on their website at www.juko.fi/yliopisto. English news are available at the yliopistotes.fi website. This online information bank from JUKO and its member unions has all the essential information about the universities’ collective agreement.
Follow the conversation on Facebook and Twitter: @JUKOry. Our hashtags are #MeOlemmeYliopisto and #neuvotellen2023.
Further information
Katja Aho | head of collective bargaining | university sector | +358 50 592 1646 | katja.aho@juko.fi | Twitter @aho_katja @JUKOry
JUKO, the Negotiation Organization for Public Sector Professionals, negotiates collective agreements on behalf of, and thus represents, 200,000 members of Akava member unions. We bargain collectively on behalf of employees and officials of the municipalities, well-being services counties, the state, universities and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, as well as in Avainta sectors*, the National Gallery and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. (*Private companies and foundations operating under the aegis of municipalities, as well as private service providers for the municipalities.)
We are an association of associations: JUKO consists of 11 member associations, which have 35 member unions.