Unions representing technology and professional workers have announced an overtime ban starting Monday until 15 November.
According to the Industrial Union, the action will affect about 100,000 staff working in technology as well as employees working with sheet metal and industrial insulation.
Meanwhile Trade Union Pro said on Sunday that the ban on overtime work would cover all white collar employees in the technology sector.
The unions declared the overtime ban after failing to see eye-to-eye with employers on a new collective bargaining agreement. The previous contract expired at the end of October.
The Federation of Finnish Technology Industries which represents employers, said that the ban will complicate negotiations and make it difficult for businesses to operate and make deliveries to customers.
The talks foundered on the 24 unpaid working hours that are a feature of the previous government’s competitiveness pact that aimed to make Finnish business more competitive by reducing the unit cost of labour. Employers would like to maintain the provision, but the unions want to eliminate it.
A wage agreement in the technology industry is being seen as a weather vane for collective bargaining agreements in other sectors.