Sote | The nursing organizations are presenting a five-year rescue program for the social services sector, with the aim of increasing the sector’s attractiveness

Nursing associations Tehy and Super are presenting a five-year rescue program for the SOTO sector that would raise the base salary level by 3.6 percent annually in addition to normal contract increases. According to the organizations, this would increase the long-term attractiveness of the sector.

According to them, the annual cost would be around € 300 million, including all labor costs.

The social, health and education trade union Tehy and the Finnish Association of Nurses and Primary Nurses Super held a joint press conference on Wednesday on the topic.

“This is by no means an impossibly large performance. The effect of the program over five years is an average of EUR 492 on the nurse’s basic salary and EUR 427 on a nurse’s basic salary, ”said Tehy’s Executive Vice President Else-Mai Kirvesniemi on the occasion.

The current SOTE agreement expires at the end of February. The Sote Agreement is the largest Contract Sector in the municipal sector, with approximately 180,000 employees.

According to the organizations, the pay improvement program should be negotiated between the social partners in the form of an independent collective agreement, but funding for the program must come from the state.

Tehy and Super believe the rescue program will save costs in the long run, as a worsening shortage of caregivers will lead to both wage competition and the cost of delaying care.

From the employer’s point of view, there is no room for such a large additional salary program. The RK’s labor market survey has made a preliminary calculation of the proposal.

“Calculating its cumulative effect, the price tag will be € 4.8 billion over five years,” Markku Jalonen Municipal and welfare area employers (KT) tell STT.

According to him, that would mean that the tax on each employee should be raised by about one per cent, meaning there is an annual tax increase of more than € 300 per person.

Jalonen also reminds that if caregivers’ organizations receive their own program, other organizations negotiating agreements in the municipal sector are usually less satisfied. Then the cumulative pot would be over € 12 billion.

“And these figures don’t even include the actual pay rise solution,” on top of which a further raise would come.

In any case, according to Jalonen, the forthcoming wage harmonization will also significantly increase the general level of earnings in the social services sector. According to him, there is talk of increases of up to hundreds of euros for most staff. According to the latest estimates, the costs would be in the order of about 700 million euros, Jalonen says.

Wage harmonization refers to the coordination of the wages of employees moving from municipalities and associations of municipalities to welfare areas, which is done on the basis of the highest wage.