Technology Industries of Finland, one of the country’s largest employer organisations, has announced it intends to partially withdraw from collective bargaining by dividing future activities between two separate associations.
In a press release (external link) published on Thursday, the association announced that the responsibility for national collective agreements will be transferred to a new employers' association called Teknologiateollisuuden työnantajat (roughly translated as Technology industry employers).
The new association will begin operations in August and Technology Industries of Finland will cease all labour market negotiation activities at the same time.
The updated structure means that member companies can choose whether to participate in nationwide collective bargaining negotiations through the new association.
Companies that do not wish to join the new collective bargaining association will in future negotiate working conditions directly with employees on a company-by-company basis, while retaining membership of the original association.
"The goal has long been that working conditions could be agreed more within companies. Now we really are in a situation where companies are allowed to decide their own tailor-made solutions," the organisation’s chair Marjo Miettinen said.
Focus on lobbying, support for non-collective members
In the future, Technology Industries of Finland will focus on influencing labour market policy and supporting member companies that enter into company-specific agreements.
"We believe that by increasing our position, we are best able to ensure success in international competition and thereby improve employment and the well-being of Finland as a whole," Minna Helle, the association’s Executive Director of Industrial Relations, told Yle.
Yle News' weekly podcast All Points North explained the background to Finland's industrial relations and labour market in an episode last year. You can listen to the episode via this embedded player, Yle Areena, Spotify, iTunes or your normal pod player using the RSS feed.
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Helle added that the objective is not to change collective bargaining or to weaken working conditions, but to give member companies more options. Helle served as the National Conciliator of labour disputes from 2014 to 2018.
Technology Industries of Finland has about 1,600 member companies, which are responsible for about half of Finland's exports, and comprises five subsectors; information technology, the electronics and electrotechnical industry, mechanical engineering, the metals industry, consulting engineering.
Last autumn, the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF) announced that it would abandon collective bargaining in the Finnish labour market.