State sector employees take industrial action for the first time in almost 40 years
The organisations that represent state sector employees – Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL, Trade Union Pro, and the Negotiation Organisation for Public Sector Professionals JUKO – have declared a ban on overtime and shift swaps and a ban to accrue flex hours for the state sector.
The announced bans start on Wednesday 19 March and apply until further notice. The bans concern all those state employees who are in a contractual employment relationship. These make up about 10% of all state employees.
The Office for the Government as Employer (VTML) halted the collective agreement negotiations on 7 March. The pay rise that it has offered for employees is 6.3%. That is significantly less than the general level, which has settled at 7.8%.
– The Office for the Government as Employer has unilaterally halted the negotiations and thus refused to negotiate on our members' pay rises. Industrial action is unfortunately our only way to get the negotiations to continue, says the President of Trade Union Pro Niko Simola.
The employee organisations resort to industrial action in order to get state employees pay rises that correspond to the general level.
– The state proposes to its employees pay rises that are significantly lower than those of other employees, even though we know that when we consider the requirements for employees, the pay of state sector personnels has already fallen behind the labour market in general. This is a very harsh personnel policy, and we do not accept it, stresses JUKO's Head of State Sector Collective Bargaining Minna Salminen.
– The time for ceremonial speeches is over. The citizens understand that those who work for the state form the hard core of the national security, crisis resilience of society and security of supply. The employer seems to view the personnel mainly as a cost factor that does not deserve appreciation in the form of decent pay rises, criticises the President of JHL Håkan Ekström.
If the employer is not motivated to negotiate, the employee organisations are also prepared to take their industrial action further in order to reach an agreement. The state sector collective agreement (collective agreement for government) covers 76,000 civil servants and employees under contract.
More information:
Håkan Ekström, President of JHL, 040 828 2865
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