Slight progress is reported in talks between the Tehy nurses' union and municipal employers (TK), which have been underway since noon Sunday under the mediation of state labour conciliator Juhani Salonius. As the session began, both Salonius and Tehy chair Jaana Laitinen-Pesola said that the two sides remained quite far apart on the key question of wage increases. All other contract details had however been worked out. TK's Labour Relations Chief, Markku Jalonen, said during the day that the employers' side had made concessions in the pay dispute. The government is ready to convene anytime this weekend should the situation require. If no deal is reached, some 12,800 municipal nurses will quit their jobs on Monday night. Work Orders Issued During the weekend, employers are issuing written orders to return to work to some 2400 essential-care workers. The largest number receiving such letters, 750, are in the Helsinki-Uusimaa hospital district. The letters are being issued at work to those with shifts this weekend. Orders are being delivered to the homes of the rest, but many have not been on hand to accept them. By Sunday evening, provincial authorities estimated that 58 percent of those being ordered to work after Monday had been served with papers. The union has advised its members to comply with the orders. However a few nurses have refused to accept the letters. Others plan to wait 24 hours to respond to them as allowed by law. Nurses who do not turn up for work as ordered face fines. Speaking on a YLE TV discussion programme on Saturday, Minister of Labour Tarja Cronberg defended the Patient Safety Act passed by Parliament on Friday. She says the law is essential but will only be used if the nurses indeed walk off the job as threatened. Patient Safety Bill Takes Effect
Parliament approved the Act by a wide margin on Friday afternoon. MPs decided that municipal employers may force some public sector nurses to report for duty in spite of ongoing industrial action.
President Tarja Halonen signed the bill into law on Friday afternoon. It came into force on Saturday.
Parliament approved the bill by a vote of 113-68, with the entire opposition voting against it and 18 MPs absent.
Those missing included Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, who was hospitalised from late Thursday to Saturday morning. On Friday a gallstone was removed from his urinary tract.