The Finnish Union of Practical Nurses (SuPer), the Union of Health and Social Care Professionals (Tehy) and the Union of Private Sector Professionals (Erto) said on Wednesday that they had reached a collective agreement for the private social services sector.
The unions are members of the negotiating organisation Sote ry, which negotiates the collective agreement for the private social services sector with the Finnish Association of Private Care Providers (Hali). The private social services sector employs around 70,000 workers in Finland.
The content of the agreement will not be made public until the negotiating parties' boards have discussed the matter next week, the unions announced in a joint press release.
The negotiations for the sector have dragged on since February. To speed up the negotiations, SuPer, Tehy and Erto declared a ban on overtime and shift swaps for the sector last Monday, with the ban ending a day later as the agreement was reached.
Nursing unions not part of early June deal
Collective bargaining negotiations between municipal workers' unions Juko and JAU and employer group KT, aimed at resolving a months-long industrial dispute in the municipal sector, concluded in June.
The deal includes a two-percent pay rise starting from June and a five-year pay programme that will enter into force next year and see wages in the municipal sector increase by 5.1 percent above normal cost-of-living increases.
Nursing unions SuPer or Tehy did not participate in the negotiations and are not involved in the agreement. However, the increases secured will also apply to nurses' associations for the sake of equal and fair treatment of staff.