Negotiations in the metalworking sector, which is taking the lead in Finland's 2000 sectoral collective bargaining round, were temporarily suspended in mid-January due to disagreement about wages and trade union demands for an extra paid day off per year. The Finnish Metalworkers' Union has authorised the issuing of a strike threat if a satisfactory solution is not found.
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Negotiations in the metalworking sector, which is taking the lead in Finland's 2000 sectoral collective bargaining round, were temporarily suspended in mid-January due to disagreement about wages and trade union demands for an extra paid day off per year. The Finnish Metalworkers' Union has authorised the issuing of a strike threat if a satisfactory solution is not found.
In 2000, collective bargaining in Finland is occurring at sector level, as a central incomes policy agreement proved impossible to reach (FI9910124N). In January, negotiations in the metalworking sector came to a temporary halt, and on 11 January the central council of the Metalworkers' Union (Metallityöväen Liitto, Metalli) gave the union's executive committee the right to issue a strike warning if the negotiations did not achieve a satisfactory result. The existing agreement expired on 15 January.
Metalli's wage demands - plus its call for an extra paid day off per year - would increase labour costs by 4.4%. The Federation of Finnish Metal, Engineering and Electrotechnical Industries (Metalliteollisuuden Keskusliitto, MET) has offered a deal that would increase costs by 1.8%, and flatly rejected the demand for a cut in annual working time through the extra day off. The unions did not accept the MET offer and postponed further negotiations until 16 January, one day after the existing agreement expired. The negotiations will thus continue beyond the period regulated by an agreement, and any strike action will thus be legal. The employers have justified their position on the grounds of the expectation that the government will decrease taxes, bringing about an increase in purchasing power that would compensate for the lower pay rise. However, the union is not willing to accept any kind of reliance on tax measures: controversially, it argues that workers are entitled to a wage increase paid from the employers' pocket, based on the combined effects of increased productivity and inflation. The government, for its part, has affirmed that it will keep its promise to cut taxes by FIM 10 billion to FIM 11 billion during its term of office. The aim of this affirmation was to speed up the negotiations.
The metalworking deal could set the trend for wage settlements for as many as 1 million Finnish wage earners (out of a total of 1.969.000), and this pace-setting agreement is thus considered as crucial to the success of the overall sectoral bargaining round. It is widely considered that the current potential dispute has been brought to a head mainly by the union's proposed annual cut of one day in working time, which was refused by the employers on the grounds that annual working time in Finland is already short by international comparison. An extra day off would increase costs by 0.4%. The disagreement on wages is not seen as serious and a solution is expected to be found by the parties meeting each other halfway. The other issues have already been agreed on to a large extent and it is most likely that an agreement will be concluded soon. In the case of some other sectors, like the paper industry, the negotiations will be much more difficult.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2000), Metalworkers prepared to strike, article.
