SAK holds five-yearly national congress

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In May 2001, the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) held its five-yearly congress. The congress brought few surprises and long-standing president Lauri Ihalainen was re-elected. Topics of discussion included the challenges of globalisation and future policy orientations. The Finnish President and the Prime Minister attended the congress, a mark of SAK's good relations with the state authorities. Many international trade union representatives also attended, underlining interest in cooperation across national borders.

On 28-30 May 2001, the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (Suomen Ammattiliittojen Keskusjärjestö, SAK) held its 16th five-yearly congress. Lauri Ihalainen, who has headed the organisation since 1990 - the longest continuous period in its history - was, as expected, re-elected as SAK's president. For the first time a woman, Tuire Santamäki-Vuori, was elected as the president of the SAK general council. In addition to the elections of central officials, the congress discussed globalisation issues and future policy orientations, and approved three new policy documents.

SAK president's priorities

In his speech to the conference, Mr Ihalainen envisaged greater European cooperation between trade unions: "It is also a logical consequence of [economic policy cooperation with the EU Economic and Monetary Union] that the process of European labour market collective bargaining will gradually expand and take on a more organised form. Collective bargaining by trade unions and labour confederations will incorporate a permanent fourth level - that of international agreements." He did not take a position concerning the timetable for European-level bargaining, however.

SAK is concerned about the marked shift in the division of national income in favour of capital income and away from wage income. Mr Ihalainen called for a fairer proportion of the national product to be allotted to wage income. He would also be willing to extend local-level bargaining (FI0005147F) to include, for example, agreements on company bonus systems. As to future bargaining models, he stated that broad incomes policy agreements (FI0012170F) are still the most important means for ensuring the interests of union members. Other issues raised by Mr Ihalainen included: treating employees as a factor of competitive advantage for companies; abolishing gender segregation of the labour market; increasing the participation of young people in trade union decision-making; ensuring multiculturalism in the trade union movement; and addressing the challenge that small workplaces constitute for the shop steward network.

Prime Minister draws attention to income differentials

In his speech to the congress, the Social Democrat Prime Minister, Paavo Lipponen, also focused attention on the growth of income differentials: "The distribution of earned income has remained fairly level in Finland. However, the impact of unearned income has led to a widening disparity in earnings. It would therefore be fully justified to examine the factors which have contributed to the growth of unearned income. Is this a Finnish phenomenon, or is it a wider issue which is connected with the development of the global economy?"

Mr Lipponen acknowledged the role of incomes policy agreements, which have evidently made a positive contribution to the satisfactory development of the Finnish economy and employment. As to the future development of the collective bargaining system, he proposed consideration of the duration of collective agreements, the principles of wage policy, and performance- and profit-related bonus schemes.

No surprises from Finnish President

The Finnish President, Tarja Halonen (elected as a Social Democrat candidate), also spoke at the congress. Due to her close ties with SAK - she was a lawyer for it in the 1970s - Ms Halonen received significant support from the union confederation in her election campaign, which is thought to have played a part in helping her become head of state.

The President's speech did not include any surprises. She thanked the trade union movement for its contribution to the development of democracy and equality in Finland. According to her, the "Nordic welfare model" has proved to be an excellent method of linking private efforts and common responsibility. In her speech, the President also touched on the expansion of the EU. In her view, this will bring stability, prosperity and security to Europe and will strengthen Europeans' position globally in the long run. She said that the EU and the governments and officials of different countries are working hard to ensure that the applicant countries' economies, democracy and rule of law can develop sufficiently for membership - "but it is in everyone's interests for civic society to be involved, to give new structures the right spirit."

ETUC views

In his speech, the general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), Emilio Gabaglio, drew attention to Europe's ever-growing economic integration: "All this is fine to us under the condition that it can deliver full employment, quality of jobs, life-long learning and training, equality between women and men, and effective social protection systems. We must not lose sight of the fact that for ordinary people, especially for the millions still out of work or living under the poverty line, these results will be the ultimate test of credibility of the European Union."

According to Mr Gabaglio, in this situation there is a need to strengthen the capacity of the European trade union movement. He proposed a coordination of collective bargaining strategy (EU0101291N), among other measures. He also referred to the great changes that are soon to take place in Europe, due to enlargement. The ETUC general secretary stated that in this process the EU Charter of fundamental rights, proclaimed in December 2000 (EU0012288F) must be improved and transformed into a legally binding instrument. He also pointed out that ETUC has accepted unions from the central and eastern European candidate as members. Mr Gabaglio hoped that the indispensable economic transformation in these countries would not be realised at the expense of social guarantees and workers' rights.

Three policy documents

The congress also approved three policy documents.

The document entitled Work generates welfare contains SAK's key goals for the five-year period until its next congress. The main themes are international relations, economic growth and welfare, changes in the world of work, and the further progress of the welfare state. SAK believes that the problems associated with free trade will not be solved by breaking up the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but by improving its activities and making them more efficient. SAK sees WTO as an international organ which could steer globalisation together with the World Bank. However, this would require direct channels of influence for the international trade union movement. The document also takes a stand on EU expansion, stating that the current level of intergovernmental cooperation is insufficient and that cross-border decision-making is necessary - for the harmonisation of taxation, for example. SAK supports the principle of an EU constitution.

A document entitled Agreeing in partnership outlines SAK's collective bargaining policy. The document essentially sets out the core principles of this policy, with solidarity both in pay and in overall policy constituting a central goal. In relation to EU-level bargaining, the document outlines the possibility, as a long-term development, of European sector-level agreements concerning basic wages and other terms of employment. In relation to EU expansion, the starting-point of the trade union movement is that the industrial relations systems of the candidate countries should be functioning appropriately at the time of joining, at the latest, and that the incoming countries should have adopted the relevant EU employment legislation, with the free movement of labour to be subject to adequate transitional periods (FI0105185N).

Finally, Moving to the future examines the the future challenges facing the trade union movement and the possibilities for its activities. A central element is the strengthening of the movement's non-governmental organisation (NGO) characteristics and the necessity for more interactive participation by the membership. The document calls for the proper implementation of democracy, both in Finnish society and more particularly within the trade union movement, and considers cooperation between different NGOs as one channel for this. Company ethics and their relation to the trade union movement are also considered in the document. It is stated that that "the trade union movement should oppose the currently popular company culture, which worships the ideas of the new liberal market economy, which in turn holds the interests of shareholders as the sole concern". According to the document, it is illustrative of the new company culture that even profitable companies are making their employees redundant (FI0002136F), and the financial penalties imposed on such companies are often too modest. The unions should respond by developing public campaigns and continuously monitoring companies.

Resolution

In the overall congress resolution, SAK points out the importance of employment as a foundation for welfare. It demands measures to speed up the development of employment and the provision of job opportunities: "Sufficient funds must be secured for the implementation of active labour policies. The provision of work, particularly for the long-term unemployed, should once again be taken into consideration as a duty of society. In addition to the public sector, employers in the private sector must also accept their responsibilities for the employment of this group of people. Investment in the training of the unemployed must be increased ... Earnings-related social security is of great importance in the reduction of poverty, and therefore there must be an improvement in unemployment and social security benefits. SAK emphasises the importance, to both wellbeing and equality, of high-quality public services being available to all." SAK also considers also that balanced regional development is important.

The resolution further calls for the development of working life, and measures to promote "coping" at work (FI9911127F) and the reconciliation of work and family life. SAK is prepared to extend local bargaining and, in a "spirit of continuous negotiation", the organisation proposes that the bargaining process should be developed in terms of the content and organisation of work and the establishment of rules for bonus systems. SAK also considers it a prerequisite for local bargaining that the shop steward system functions well at every workplace. The unions and the employers should together take responsibility for the training of shop stewards and reducing their workload.

On international issues, SAK proposes that the fundamental rights of workers should be included in the rules for world trade: "Whilst business is undergoing globalisation, the cross-border cooperation of the wage earners must be intensified at every level." Concerning EU expansion, the resolution states: "The influence of the trade union movement, and of citizens, on the course of the development of the European Union must be strengthened. The impact of the future development of the European Union on the progress of our own welfare and bargaining policy must be assessed. The European Union cannot be developed solely as an economic union. The social and labour market dimension must be strengthened in order to correspond with the deepening of integration and with the enlargement of the European Union ... The eastern enlargement of the European Union will bring about significant changes in the near future. The free movement of the labour force and the free provision of services must be regulated by the setting of periods of transition. We in Finland must be prepared for an increase in our share of foreign workers within the workforce. It must be ensured that the foreign worker is offered not less than the minimum terms and conditions of work, whatever that work may be. In order to ensure this, the terms and conditions of work must be monitored more closely. Support must be given to the development of the labour market in those neighbouring regions, to the east and the south of Finland, and the trade union movement in these areas must be strengthened."

SAK emphasises the importance of the Finnish bargaining model and of tripartite cooperation: "SAK wishes to maintain an effective and cooperative relationship with the government, and also considers it important that all the key elements of society commit themselves to the continuation of tripartite cooperation. The basic pillars of the bargaining system, the minimum security which is provided by national agreements, the rights to unionisation and to industrial action, and all the other fundamental rights of the worker must be secured whatever the circumstances."

Commentary

The SAK congress brought no surprises. The importance of the tripartite character of the Finnish bargaining system was highlighted. As an important opening to future discussions, SAK repeated its desire for an extension of the local bargaining process in such a way that common rules for bonus systems should be agreed on. The employers have expressed a wish to extend local agreements but, at least until now, bonus systems have not been included among the issues to be agreed at this level. It is most likely that the situation will not change in this respect. The congress also discussed the growing income differentials in favour of capital income, and the reasons for this will now be investigated. Further, at the congress SAK wished to demonstrate its good relations with the state authorities, the international labour movement and supranational bodies which influence the position of workers.

SAK wants to be an active player in the international field now that, with increasing globalisation, the trade union movement is faced perpetually with increasingly difficult challenges. Signs of preparing for the future have been seen already in the form of recent union mergers (FI0106189N and FI0101172N), and significant changes will most likely take place in future in the structure of Finland's three central union confederations. Possible EU-level bargaining was touched on in many speeches at the congress - if this were implemented, it too would require a joining of forces among unions. (Juha Hietanen, Ministry of Labour)