Municipal economy There are enough dealers for a salary pot of more than five million euros in Helsinki – At least these professional groups are considered in the distribution of money

Helsinki the decision of the mayor and the major political groups to allocate EUR 5 million in salary increases next year is not unique. Similar salary increases have been made in previous years.

For example, in the period 2019–2021, EUR 4.5–5 million of the pot has been distributed.

However, next year’s salary increases came to the fore with the new mayor Juhana Vartiainen (kok) presented next year’s draft budget on Thursday. He or the rest of the mayor recently did not specify in which areas the EUR 5 million will be allocated.

“I am in favor of targeted salary increases, but I am not the person to decide,” Vartiainen said on Thursday.

Mayor or indeed the other political leadership of the city, i.e. the council, does not decide on this officially named wage development program.

These are wage increases considered by the employer that are separate from other wage developments. In practice, their distribution is negotiated with the city’s human resources director Nina Grosin led by the management of the divisions and representatives of the personnel groups.

“At the political level, there is a policy that money should be spent on sectors suffering from labor shortages. Of course, it is difficult to prioritize groups of staff, and it therefore makes sense to prepare this thoroughly and not directly by politicians,” said the chairman of the Green Council. Reetta Vanhanen.

For money accessing professional groups will most obviously not be clear in December when next year’s budget is finalized. This can be inferred from years of established practice.

“The division has not been known when the council decides on the budget but usually in the early winter,” confirms the deputy mayor Anni Sinnemäki (green).

The areas most severely affected by staff shortages are well known in the city. However, EUR 5 million is not a decisive amount to remedy the situation, as the list of professional groups listed in next year’s draft budget is extensive.

There is a shortage of staff, especially in doctors, nurses, social workers, early childhood education teachers and special needs teachers, special education teachers and psychologists in basic education, and Swedish-language teaching and early childhood education.

About education and the Deputy Mayor for Education Nasima Razmyar (sd) emphasizes the importance of social and health care professionals and early childhood education professionals. There were 2,500 early childhood education teachers in Helsinki in October.

“We know where there are really accessibility issues. After all, that money is limited, because the world will not be saved, but the wage development program must be continued, ”says Razmyar.

According to Sinnemäki, one of the largest individual increases in recent years is a monthly increase of € 175 for early childhood education teachers. At the same time, the salaries of doctors were increased by one thousand euros a month.

The rescue service is missing from the professional listing. It would also be the wishes of this sector, which has suffered from staff shortages, to enter next year’s salary development program. This can be read in the section on the rescue service in the draft budget.

Rescue Department however, was involved in this year’s salary increases. Therefore, now it would be the leader of the SDP council group Eveliina Heinäluoma according to the time to direct money also to those professional groups that do not “rise strongly in the public debate”.

“Babysitters, youth counselors, primary, community and nurses work for a really low salary,” says Heinäluoma.

For example, nurses in Helsinki receive an average of EUR 2,384 per month. Social workers earn EUR 3,769, Finnish-speaking early childhood teachers EUR 2,938 and Swedish-speaking EUR 2,893.

Firefighters receive an average of € 3,300 per month, firefighter paramedics € 4,005 and chief firefighters € 3,614.

Salary figures do not include shift or overtime pay but are average regular monthly salaries.

Read more: Helsinki Rescue School is allowed to continue – additional funding is also being sought for the rescue college.

Salary increases the division can be expected to evoke emotion. Sinnemäki says that he understands that targeting them “can also create moods that this will not happen to our group”.

Indeed, several politicians interviewed by HS for this article stressed the importance of assessing the real situation of occupational groups before deciding on the allocation of money.

Deputy Mayor of Social and Health Affairs representing the Coalition Party Daniel Sazonov says that preparations should take into account which occupational groups have the most significant staffing shortages. According to him, it is also necessary to compare wage developments in other cities and Uusimaa.