"No more free work" – a 3.3 % raise in the offing
The collective bargaining negotiations involving senior salaried employees that have been underway since last fall have finally taken a leap forwards.
The board of the Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff YTN has accepted the proposed new collective agreements for the technology and chemical industries. The collective agreement for the tech sector covers some 60 000 senior salaried employees while the agreement for the chemical industry covers some 8 000.
The negotiations have also yielded results in the ICT and information sectors.
An agreement concerning a raise of 3.3 % was reached
The collective agreement for the technology industry contains a total raise of 3.3 % over the 25-month agreement period. The implementation of these raises is to be primarily agreed upon locally at the companies or workplaces. If a local agreement is not reached, all senior salaried employees included in the collective agreement will receive a general raise of 1.3 % in March 2020. Another general raise of 1.2 % is to follow in February 2021 and the employer has a further 0.8 % to distribute.
– I am pleased that we have now reached the first agreements of this difficult union round and the gridlock is finally beginning to ease. The most important goal for our members is reached when the kiky hours are removed from the agreements, marking the end of free work. When reflected against inflation forecasts, the agreed upon raises should maintain the purchasing power of senior salaried employees at the current level, says TEK's head negotiator and YTN's chair Teemu Hankamäki.
– The new collective agreement for the technology industry and the included cost level of 3.3 % means that over the next two years the salaries of TEK members covered by the agreement will be boosted by a sum of approximately 45 000 000 euros. This is one clear benefit that the collective labour agreements offer our members, but it is by no means the only one, says Hankamäki as he explains the practical significance of the results.
The work continues
The negotiation results achieved in the ICT and information sectors will be discussed by the management of the involved unions early this week. On the private side, the negotiations for the design and consulting sector and the energy sector are still ongoing. All in all, YTN still has some twenty agreements that are in need of updating.
The negotiations concerning the collective agreements of the public sector began in January and the agreements are valid until the end of March.