Survey: Management confidence in employees is diminishing

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A recent survey among the members of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) that was published on Monday indicates that the attitudes taken by management toward employees at workplaces have become tougher during the last five years.
      The management's confidence in employees and their appreciation for their work, their concern about employee job satisfaction and work atmosphere, as well as conerns for the employees' possibilities to develop at work have all gone down.
      According to the survey, 60 percent of all respondents believe that the management at their workplace prefers efficiency above all else.
     
SAK conducts an extensive barometric survey among its members every five years. The findings of each survey give the organisation useful information as to its future policies.
      The findings appear to be in stark contrast with the good management that the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK advertised last week, Development Manager Eija Hietanen of SAK observed on Monday.
      "Apparently the sensation of a stand-off between management and employees has increased", concluded economist Erkki Laukkanen of SAK.
     
The scope for SAK members to exercise control over their own work have diminished further, even though somewhat more gradually. The same trend was shown already by the membership survey from 2000.
     
The struggle against unemployment as well as the defence of unemployment benefits continue to be the two most important issues within the Finnish trade union movement since 1995, according to SAK members.
      Further issues, including the fight against part-time and fixed-term jobs as well as atypical employment contracts, have become more and more important. Currently, they are to be seen as important as the equality of salaries.
     
The party affiliation of SAK members has changed noticeably, according to the survey.
      A total of 28 percent of all members are still SDP supporters, even though the support has dropped by 5.1 percentage points from the 33.1 percent recorded in 2000. In comparison, 29.7 percent of the SAK members supported SDP in 1995, which was only slightly more than currently. It may have been that the coincidence of President Tarja Halonen's first election campaign in 2000 boosted the SDP figure at that time.
      SAK, the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, commissioned a comprehensive membership survey during January 2005, and replies to the related questionnaire were received from a total of 6,000 members of the SAK affiliated unions. The results represent the views of all SAK members - approximately one million Finnish wage-earners.


Links:
  The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK)
  The Confederation of Finnish Industries EK

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