Trade Union JHL

Turku has sold the cleaning and property services of Arkea to a company from Oulu

A window being cleaned with a red wiper.

The city of Turku has sold the majority of its services company Arkea’s operations to Alltime Group. Employees are transferred to the new company as old employees, but their collective agreement will be replaced with a new one in spring 2025.

Hundreds of cleaning and property services professionals in Turku get a new employer this summer. The city sells the cleaning and property services of Arkea Oy to an Oulu-based company Alltime Group. After the transaction Arkea will provide just catering services and only in a few locations in the Turku region.

Arkea currently has approximately 500 employees.

JHL’s Head of Region for Southwest Finland Tommi Raunela tells that JHL has been securing the terms and conditions of employment in the company for years. Even though the employees are going to move away from JHL’s collective agreement in the future, they will still be taken care of.

– The protection of the collective agreement remains in effect until spring 2025. I have spoken with the chairperson of the local branch, and they are going to organise an event for the personnel of the company about this matter as soon as possible.

The transfer of ownership will take effect on 1 July 2024 if the acquisition gets approval from the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority. Arkea’s operations will become Alltime’s unit for Western Finland. The CEO of Alltime Juha Murtopuro says that the company does not have workforce reductions in sight.

Employees will be transferred to the new company as so-called old employees. From spring 2025 onwards the collective agreement for workers in the property services sector will be applied to personnel who are transferred from Arkea. This agreement is negotiated by Service Union United PAM.

JHL has persistently defended Arkea’s employees’ right to proper pay. Earlier, the company owned by the city of Turku attempted to switch into a cheaper collective agreement, but JHL successfully stopped the plans with strike action.