BREAKING NEWS: Mediation proposal accepted – technology strike ends

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A settlement has been reached in the labour dispute that led to a strike in the technology industry on Friday. The sides to the conflict accepted a mediation proposal on Monday evening that had been put forward by National Conciliator Esa Lonka late Thursday.
      The two-year contract follows the lines of the central agreement put forward by the central labour market organisations.
      Antti Rinne, chairman of the Trade Union Pro says that the contract brings all of those within the contract the same kind of earnings development of their minimum earnings. The Federation of Finnish Technology Industries, meanwhile, feels that the contract allows individual companies to agree on details of the contract according to their economic situations.
     
The strike affected 40 companies in the technology industry. The mediation proposal submitted by Esa Lonka was the second one that he had put forward in this dispute.
      The disagreements surrounded both pay issues and time off for training. Last week all sides rejected the first mediation proposal.
     
We will have more on the labour market situation in Tuesday’s edition. The article below was edited previously in the day:
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Negotiations aimed at resolving the labour conflict in Finland’s technology industry resumed at the office of National Conciliator Esa Lonka on Sunday evening. At about 10:00 in the evening Lonka put forward a new mediation proposal to end the strike which began on Friday.
      Both Metalworkers’ Union President Riku Aalto and Trade Union Pro leader Antti Rinne said that they were willing to recommend to their unions that the proposal should be accepted.
     
A previous mediation proposal was rejected by the decision-making bodies of both of the unions as well as the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries – even though Aalto and Rinne had recommended that they be accepted.
      During the day on Sunday Lonka is believed to have held unofficial discussions with the sides to the dispute, and some help was enlisted from the Finnish government.
      Remaining disagreement between the labour and management side focused on how pay increases are to be implemented at the local level.
     
In Lonka’s first mediation proposal about two thirds of the pay increases would have been distributed across the board to all employees, and one third would be determined at individual companies.
      The employers’ side would have wanted a greater share to be determined locally.
     
Lonka has asked the decision-making bodies of the various groups for responses by 7:00 PM Monday evening.
      If the proposal is accepted, the strike, which affects 30,000 employees at 40 technology companies in Finland, could end on Tuesday morning.
      If no settlement is reached, the strike would expand on November 7th, and would affect 50,000 employees.
     
A strike warning has been issued by the Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff (YTN), which would affect a number of companies, including Nokia.
      “We face our own confrontation with the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries. Our labour contract must have the very same pay increases and text questions as the contracts with the Metalworkers and Pro”, says Pertti Porokari, Vice President of YTN, and the chairman of the Union of Professional Engineers in Finland.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Strike begins in Finnish technology industry (21.10.2011)
  Talks to avert labour conflict in technology industry continue Wednesday (19.10.2011)
  Collective bargaining: other industries are waiting to see what happens to technology sector (17.10.2011)
  Broad-based incomes framework reached - tough negotiations expected at individual union level (14.10.2011)

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