Employers' organizations do not need new data production to support labor market negotiations, according to the opinion feedback received by the Ministry of Labor and Economic Affairs.
Thought a new operator that produces economic and wage data for the labor market is rejected by employers in the opinion feedback collected by the Ministry of Labor and the Economy.
In the statement round that ended on Tuesday, the ministry has asked the views of the labor market parties and, for example, the mediator, on the development of the Finnish labor market model, the mediation institution and the government program's wage model registration.
The ministry also asked the organizations whether, in order to support mediation and form a common situational picture, “promote measures to produce objective information about the labor market, macroeconomic development and industry-specific conditions”.
The idea has come up often in labor market discussions in recent years. For example, Akava, the central organization for those with higher education presented in 2021that a “non-partisan economic unit” would be established in connection with the national mediator's office, the task of which would be to produce economic, salary and earnings development calculations to form a common picture of the economy both as a whole and in different industries.
In the statement round it turned out that there is a need to strengthen a common picture of the situation, especially in wage earners' organizations. For some, looser cooperation would be enough, while others see the need for a new instance to be responsible for the task.
“Previously, the joint financial situation picture of the central organizations was formed by the revenue and cost development investigation committee [tukuseto] through. This joint institution has been given up at the request of the employers and nothing similar has come in its place”, the central organization of Finnish trade unions, SAK, reiterates in its statement.
The service industry trade union Pam highlights the example of Sweden. The Swedish Conciliation Office is a significantly larger institution than the national conciliator's office, which is also responsible for wage statistics.
“For example, we also compile monthly statistics on salary increases, which has been particularly useful during high inflation. Our numbers are seen as neutral, which is important”, CEO of the Swedish Conciliation Office Irene Wennemo described to Helsingin Sanomat in November.
Some unions directly suggest that even in Finland, a separate financial unit should be established under the national conciliator's office, or that the conciliator's office should be strengthened. On the other hand, Tehy, for example, considers in his statement that “in terms of the neutrality of the mediation” such information should be produced outside the mediator's office.
Also national mediator Anu Sajavaara and his deputy, the Mediator Jukka Ahtela in their statements welcome information production that promotes a common situational picture.
On the other hand, in the statements of employers' organizations, it can be seen that the professional information produced by the Bank of Finland, the Ministry of Finance, various research institutes, banks and organizations is sufficient.
“No new data producers or, for example, a commission for the investigation of income and cost development [tukuseto] there is therefore no need to restart work to support mediation or to form a common situational picture of the labor market organizations”, Palta, representing the service industries, estimates in her statement.
The technology industry believes that there is no need for information production personnel in the national mediator's office, nor is there enough work.
“It is worth asking what problem would be solved by possible new, joint data production. Although the outlook for the economy is examined together and based on the information received at one time, the interpretations of the material are rarely completely consistent. New methods of information production, new bodies or other measures would therefore not bring a solution to the fact that the different parties, if they wish, draw their own conclusions from the available information to support their own negotiation goals,” the organization believes.
#Labor #market #Nonpartisan #financial #office #knocked #employers
