Experts disagree on whether Tehy contract applies to non-union members

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There is disagreement among legal experts as to whether or not the pay hikes in the contract reached between the Union of Health and Social Care Professionals (Tehy) and municipal employers on nurses' pay, should apply to workers who are not members of the union.
      Pirkko Mäkinen, the Ombudsman for Equality, was on the mediation board which hammered out the contract that was approved on Monday. The contract itself states that it applies only to Tehy members.
      However, she points out that equality legislation emphasises that the same pay must be paid for the same work, and that European Union legislation backs the same principle.
      So what applies at the work places - the Tehy contract, or the equality law?
      "Both, but the law takes precedence", Mäkinen answers. "In individual situations the employer takes responsibility for what is paid to those outside the Tehy contract."
      She sees no conflict in her own actions. "The rules of the game are clear. There is legislation, which is binding, and then, in the final instance, the responsibility is with individual work places, to act according to the law."
      Asked if she thought that the Tehy contract goes against the law, she would not take a stand.
     
Professor of labour law Kari-Pekka Tiitinen feels that the Tehy contract does not violate the law. He also feels that applying the pay hikes to Tehy members and not to other workers is "OK as a starting point".
      He says that both labour contract law and municipal labour law have rules which allow such measures to be taken.
      "This is how the previous municipal employees' contract was done. It had a similar condition, which excluded Tehy members."
      "This is nothing unique, although these kinds of conditions are not very common", the professor says.
     
But doesn't the equality law trump the Tehy contract?
      "It only applies to equality between men and women", Tiitinen answers, but quickly modifies his statement.
      "It needs to be assessed in individual cases. On the other hand, there is freedom of association, which means that everyone has the right to choose what organisation to belong to, or if one wants to be a member at all. It brings both rights and obligations. In this, to my understanding, there is a valid contractual condition from the point of view of labour contract law."
      Tiitinen says that disputes can arise in individual cases, especially with respect to employees who are not members of any union.
     
Professor Seppo Koskinen of the University of Lapland said in an interview with the Finnish News Agency STT that legislation requires the same pay for the same jobs regardless of union membership, or the lack of it.
      Koskinen says that the notion that the settlement would only apply to Tehy members is at odds with legislation. In this respect, nurses who are not members of Tehy would be entitled to increases that stem from the Tehy contract.
      Koskinen disagrees with Tiitinen. In Koskinen's view, the Tehy contract is in conflict with applicable legislation.
      "An employee must not be placed in a different position because of his or her union activity", Koskinen says in an interview with STT.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Nurses: contract accepted, resignations cancelled, disagreement on implementation (20.11.2007)

Links:
  Ombudsman for Equality

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