Regional elections Caregivers should be attracted to work for higher pay, say candidates from all parties on the election machine – Is this realistic?

When regional candidates are asked whether carers should be attracted to work at a higher salary, it is quite difficult to answer “no”.

This is also reflected in Helsingin Sanomat’s voting machine.

Candidates from all parliamentary parties, on average, agree with the statement. There is also a small difference: the candidates for the Coalition Party and the Center Party were the weakest in attracting wages, and the candidates in the Left Alliance were the most positive.

The candidates of the Coalition Party may still remember the fictional Sari Nurse, who contributed to the party’s victory in the 2007 parliamentary elections.

At the same time, the Coalition Party’s election promise of € 500 increases for caregivers led to a wage spiral and gnawed at the country’s competitiveness.

Although Welfare decision-makers have very limited room for maneuver in wage increases, they can hope for them from the labor market tables and also withdraw funding from the state.

Welfare areas may pay some bonuses over collective agreements, even to carers, but that would be out of place when there is no right to tax, at least not in the beginning.

Municipal sector national and union negotiations on new collective agreements have just started last week.

Pressure on wage increases and multi-year wage programs is now strong in workers ’organizations as the coronavirus pandemic froze targets and well-prepared industrial action two years ago.

No one is yet saying out the target percentages, but what was born in the technology industry a 2% pay rise considered so low that it would not increase purchasing power while inflation is still soaring.

By the end of February, new employment and collective bargaining agreements should be available for some 425,000 municipal employees, including those in the municipal care sector, who account for about 40 per cent.

Last year, the municipal wage bill, including incidental expenses, totaled more than 22 billion euros.

More than a third of this consists of a sote agreement, in which the largest professional groups are community nurses and nurses. There are also employees among others with the titles instructor, nurse, institutional caregiver, social worker and physiotherapist.

Private The current agreements in the social services sector are valid until the end of April, but negotiations on new agreements have already begun, says Hali, Director of Labor at Hali, representing the employers. Tuomas Mänttäri.

Hali negotiates the working conditions of about 90,000 employees in social and health services.

“It must be remembered that SOTE services do not only mean caregivers, but there are also, for example, sociologists, caregivers and support staff,” Mänttäri points out about the variety of the field.

“Caregivers are, of course, a very important professional group that has earned their salary, but it would be very special if one group received different treatment and better raises in the negotiations than the others,” says Mänttäri.

“Politicians Finland’s TES negotiations do not take place ”, Mänttäri concludes and gives a lecture from an employer’s perspective on how the public sector is already living beyond the means, the population is aging and social spending is rising, as are tax increase pressures.

Mänttäri does not consider it realistic that there will be bigger salary increases for the care sector than for others.

“The harmonization of wages required by the SOTE reform must also be taken into account, ie harmonization, which causes additional costs of at least hundreds of millions, and these are also reflected in the private sector,” says Mänttäri.

No one yet knows about wages the cost of harmonization, but estimates reach one billion euros or more.

More than 170,000 employees will move to the new welfare areas, and their wages will be harmonized within the welfare areas so that no one’s salary will fall. In practice, this would mean adjusting wages to “peak wages”.

Municipality- and welfare area employers However, KT still hopes that mediation could be done according to median wages. Wage earners’ organizations say this is not possible according to the case law.

CEO of KT Markku Jalonen lays the groundwork for its negotiating line by stating how caregivers do “infinitely valuable work at the heart of the welfare state” and how KT shares concerns about their resilience.

In the same breath, he recalls responsibility and sustainability in the size of wage increases: “There is no money in the RK’s pocket, but society also finances wage increases. Now the financial framework is extremely tight. ”

Even Jalonen connects the test negotiations and the additional costs required by the harmonization of wages in welfare areas. “That’s a fact that must be taken into account.”

Jalonen also recalls the rule of thumb in negotiations in the municipal sector, according to which all contract areas are bound by the same common cost framework. “Detachments in one contract area are usually not possible.”

Public sector At a press conference on Monday, the negotiating organization Juko, JHL and the trade union Jyty, agreed with the employer in the negotiations in the municipal sector: the cost effect is the same in all contract areas.

Chairman of Juko and the Education Trade Union Olli Luukkainen points out that there are many others in the pay gap, such as early childhood education teachers.

According to Luukkainen, there is no realism that caregivers would have more in negotiations than others, but within special pay programs, it would be possible to target increases.

“We are looking for a 3–6-year salary program, which is necessary because, for example, there are no slippages on the public side,” Luukkainen piles up.

Luukkainen does not say that the target for this round of salary increase is a round, but says that “a 2% increase is clearly low and does not guarantee purchasing power”.

When from the chairman of Tehy, a caring association Millariikka from Rytkönen asks about the caregivers’ salary increase reserve, the answer is expected: “Is that realistic!”

Rytkönen relies on statistics from the economic organization OECD, according to which Finland spends less money on social services than many other countries.

Rytkönen admits that wage decisions are made between the social partners, but decision-makers receive funding for them.

“It is a choice of values ​​and depends on the will of the decision-makers. After all, some 70 million euros have been found for peat producers as well, ”Rytkönen refers to the government’s decision last spring.

“We need a multi-year salary program and working conditions are good,” says Rytkönen.

Rytkönen does not comment on the increase percentage, but points out that “Our salaries are not negotiated in the South Shore”.

“Let me laugh,” Rytkönen acknowledges the employers’ speeches about the ridiculous wage increases brought about during the wage harmonization: “It does not raise wages for us, but only equalizes small wages.”