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Unions, employers resolve pay deal squabble

Trade union confederations and employers’ associations have resolved their dispute over an economy-wide pay deal. The two sides had differed over whether salary supplements would increase in line with a 20 euro per month wage increase.

seteli 20 euroa
Image: Henrietta Hassinen/Yle

Workers will now receive an increase of 20 euros per month in the first year of the deal, with supplements linked to salaries rising by an equivalent percentage, according to the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK).

Agreeing a moderate, economy-wide contract on pay and conditions had been seen as crucial to improving Finnish competitiveness. In the first year of the deal thrashed out earlier this month, workers would receive a 20 euro per month increase in salary, while in the second year they would get a 0.4 percent raise.

The subsequent dispute centred on how—or whether—the deal would be applied to supplements paid to workers when they, for instance, worked early morning or late evening shifts. Unions had interpreted the deal as meaning that salary supplements would also increase in line with the new pay, but employers said they believed the deal did not apply to supplements.