The former EK boss wrote a report for the think tank on what Finland could learn from Sweden's and Germany's labor market systems.
Alan trouper Jukka Ahtela proposes that a kind of “coordination agreement” could be concluded in the Finnish labor market in the spirit of Sweden.
Ahtela has written a report to be published on Thursday for the Akava Works think-tank working in connection with Akava, the labor market center organization for higher education graduates. In the report, he outlines directions for the development of Finland's labor market and collective agreement systems.
The report also discusses in more detail the Swedish and German labor market systems and what Finland could learn from the two reference countries.
In summer born Petteri Orpon The (kok) coalition-led government is implementing several labor market reforms, for which the ministers have mentioned other Nordic countries and especially Sweden as inspiration.
In Sweden, there have been negotiations in the 1990s Industriavtal, “Industrial Agreement”. It is an export-led wage bargaining system where competitive industries determine I marked i.e. a “mark”, salary increase reserve. This is not exceeded in other fields either.
Although the “label” is negotiated among the main export unions, other unions are also consulted. Under certain conditions, it can also be deviated from. It requires, among other things, the consent of the other party without the threat of industrial action.
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“All sectors have their own legitimate interests.”
in Finland In recent years, the organizations have argued about what the marching order of the labor market round is like and whether there is any “general line” that everyone should commit to.
According to Jukka Ahtela, “general line” is an established concept.
“It has been followed more or less successfully since the beginning of time. The procedures have varied. There have been tupas, centralized, frames and more or less coordinated federal rounds,” he repeats in the report.
According to Ahtela, it is essential that the sector most exposed to international competition, i.e. the export sector, determines the cost level and the others follow.
“Here we come to the core of the problem. All sectors have their own legitimate interests. There is backwardness due to the lack of slides, there is a need to reform texts or the salary system, there is a need to direct salary increases to low-paid or female-dominated fields, and so on.”
According to Ahtela, such claims should also be noted.
“Not so that the loudest or the most timid always get their way, but in such a way that the criteria for the 'safety valve' are defined, as has also been done in Sweden. Solutions are sought for justified demands without the threat of industrial action, in such a way that the reasons are also valid for other participants in the labor market round, and in such a way that the solution is part of a longer-term program for the structural renewal of the collective agreement. Numberless salary solutions connected to local agreements are also part of the safety valve.”
Hurry up suggests that the Industrial Agreement could be used as an example when outlining the “Finnish model”.
“On this basis, it should not be impossible to draw up a coordination agreement representing different sectors in a sufficiently comprehensive manner in the spirit of the Swedish Industrial Agreement. It should include procedures and schedule rules for negotiation rounds, but in addition to this, procedures for necessary mutual communication and trust-increasing actions during the contract periods,” he writes.
“It would be particularly necessary to agree on procedures for monitoring salary and other economic developments. A common knowledge base on salary development and the rules of the game are suitable for promoting constructive negotiations.”
Ahtela also presents, among other things, various measures for the content development of collective agreements and the resolution of so-called boundary disputes.
Hurry up is one of the part-time mediators of the Office of the National Conciliator, and he worked as an acting as a national mediator in 2018. Previously, Ahtela has worked in management positions at the Confederation of Business and Industry (EK).
In the report, he emphasizes that the conclusions and proposals are his own.
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