New collective agreement for the state sector

 A new collective agreement for the state sector came into effect at the beginning of April.

The agreement will be in place 1.4.2020 – 28.2.2022. The pay rise included in this 23 month agreement will be 3.07 per cent, which follows the general line in this round of negotiations.

The problematic 24 unpaid annual extra working hours – forced through by the right-wing Government in the agreement in 2016 – will disappear from 1 October 2020.

This is to be replaced by alternative models to allow a limited number of extra working hours, but always with pay. By way of example, for office work an employer can add on weekly working hours up to a total of 42 hours 30 minutes for three weeks in a year. The extra hours are to be paid at a normal hourly salary rate.

One important improvement is that from now on the summer holiday bonus will be paid in full. For the last three years it has been cut by 30 per cent.

The conclusion to negotiations for the state sector collective agreement proved timely: a proposal for a new agreement was ready on the very same date the old collective agreement expired, on 31 March. The negotiations began on 15 January and the final phase of the negotiations was done by telecommuting.

The unions which are the main parties of the agreement are JHL, the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors, Trade Union Pro and JUKO, the Negotiation Organisation for Public Sector Professionals. It has 11 member unions belonging to the Akava confederation.

According to the Ministry of Finance the agreement covers some 75,000 state employees.

Heikki Jokinen