STTK demands improved protection against unilateral termination

Download article in original language : FI9903198NFI.DOC

The STTK white-collar trade union confederation has set out its goals for the programme of Finland's new government, following the March 1999 general election. Several high-profile cases of firms making redundancies despite good economic performance have led the organisation to demand improved protection against unilateral termination of employment contracts.

Finland's parliamentary elections, held on 21 March 1999, resulted in setbacks for the Social Democrats, the leading party in the outgoing coalition government, though these were offset by gains for the other coalition parties, and a reformation of the coalition seemed the likeliest outcome. After the election, the Confederation of Salaried Employees (Toimihenkilökeskusjärjestö, STTK) has presented its goals for the programme of the new government, which focus notably on improving the security of the employment relationship. This initiative has been triggered by several recent high-profile cases of companies making redundancies despite experiencing good economic performance (FI9903197F). According to STTK, the grounds for redundancies must be well argued and related to the companies' activity, and should not be motivated by the prospect of raising a successful company's stock exchange price.

STTK is worried about the preservation of the welfare state and believes that this is endangered by a one-sided pursuit of the interests of shareholders - a point which should also be taken into consideration in multinational companies. The organisation demands that the prevailing legislation be changed in order to meet the challenges of real life better, with employees' representatives given a right to participate in important decision-making as members of a company's administrative bodies.

According to an STTK press release issued on 23 March: "The grounds for personnel cutbacks, and the alternatives, must be genuinely negotiated. There must be a strong obligation to provide replacement jobs and retraining. Dismissal should not be allowed if the work has not decreased in reality. This cannot be based only on the assumption of the employer. Ageing employees need specific protection of their employment relationship, because their chances of finding a new job are very limited in practice."

The Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers (Teollisuuden ja Työnantajain Keskusliitto, TT) considers that the new regulations called for by STTK are not justified. According to the Employers' Confederation of Service Industries (Palvelutyönantajat, PT) the present legislation is sufficient, and it is not unacceptable for unprofitable jobs to be cut back, irrespective of how the company as a whole is performing. The obligation to redeploy and to retrain personnel under threat of redundancy should be evaluated in every case.