The views of the parties are currently far from each other.
In several starts in private schools
on Monday
a four-day strike. A total of 25 private educational institutions are on strike from Monday to Thursday.
The strike is already the second one this spring, as some private schools were on strike in April as well.
The parties to the labor dispute are the Professional Association of Teachers OAJ, the Association of Public and Welfare Sectors JHL and the Professional Association Jyty. Employers are represented by Sivistysala (Sivista)
OAJ’s head of negotiations Petri Lindroosin according to the dispute is about money and justice.
“Private school teachers want a fair salary.”
Lindroos currently it seems that the salaries of teachers in private schools threaten to lag behind the salaries of teachers in municipal educational institutions.
The reason for this is the municipal sector’s contract settlement a few years ago, which agreed on a salary development program of around five percent for the municipal and welfare sectors.
According to a survey conducted by OAJ to its members, nearly 40 percent of teachers are considering changing to the municipality’s service if there are not sufficient salary increases in the private teaching sector.
“We are concerned that the private teaching sector will not remain a competitive employer.”
Also Sivista’s labor market leader Hanne Salonen believes it’s about fairness. But he looks at it from a completely different angle.
According to him, the public has focused too much on the fact that it is about the salary of teachers working in general education institutions.
“Of the approximately 260 educational institutions covered by this collective agreement, only 20 percent are general education institutions, such as elementary schools and high schools. The remaining 80 percent are others.”
The rest are civic and folk colleges, sports colleges, summer universities, vocational schools, art schools and music schools and other small schools.
According to Salonen, small educational institutions in particular cannot afford to pay teachers higher salaries.
“So, should we go with the strongest or the weakest?”
“In this labor dispute, it’s about whether salaries are raised by the same amount for everyone in a ‘pike is a fish’ type, or whether the financial situation of each educational institution is taken into account.”
Salonen also reminds that the cost cuts made by the government will affect some of these educational institutions, so their financial situation may deteriorate anyway.
“There is a limit to how high fees a music college can charge its students or students’ parents.”
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“This labor dispute is about whether wages will be increased in a ‘pike is a fish’ manner.”
Lindroos says that the employee side is not looking for a solution that would endanger the survival of small educational institutions.
“It’s a publicity stunt to claim like that. The operation of educational institutions is mostly financed with public funds.”
According to Lindroos, the level of the required agreement is such that the operational capacity of educational institutions is maintained. In addition, they can agree on exceptions if the financial viability of educational institutions is compromised.
According to Salonen, the municipal wage program was intended to narrow the gap between private and public wages, and not to create a situation where the execution of contracts becomes a tug of war.
“If the increases were channeled into collective agreements in the private sector, it would create an automatic elevator, and then on the municipal side, it could be said again that the private sector has better salaries. “
According to Lindroos, the employees are not applying for a salary program similar to that of the municipality, but only for a competitive salary.
Salonen according to OAJ’s concern about wage differences is not real at the moment.
“In private schools, according to Statistics Finland’s salary structure statistics, the average salary in middle school and high school is about one hundred euros higher than in municipal schools, and then again in elementary school it is about one hundred euros lower.”
According to Lindroos, looking at list salaries does not reveal the whole truth. Minimum wages are close to each other in both the public and private sectors. The differences come from the contract in the municipal sector.
“A large part of the money from the municipalities’ salary program is allocated to locally agreed teachers’ or municipal employees’ salaries and contract provisions affecting salaries agreed at the central level. And that’s where the pay gap comes from. For example, the table salary of a class teacher is lower in the private sector.”
Next once the parties negotiate on May 20.
According to Salonen, their proposal is a solution in which everyone would be guaranteed raises in line with the general line, i.e. 2.9 percent. According to him, larger increases could be considered locally for educational institutions in a good financial situation.
According to Lindroos, the employees are looking for a solution that secures the competitiveness of the salaries of the entire membership of the private education sector.
“If the salary level starts to go over for colleagues working in a completely similar position, then it requires a reaction.”
According to Lindroos, the issue is important to the membership, and almost 80 percent of the members answered in OAJ’s survey that they were also ready for new strikes because of the issue.
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