White-collar trade union claims favouritism causes discrimination at work

According to a survey conducted by the Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland (Akava) in October 2006, about 20% of its members have experienced discrimination at their places of work during the past five years.
      The figure includes approximately 50,000 professional full-time employees.
      One in six Akava members - some 39,000 employees - reported having faced mental harassment in some form or other, while a total of about 22,000 employees said that they had experienced work-related violence or the threat of it within the past 12 months.
      The questionnaire suggested ten potential reasons for the respondent’s own discrimination experience. Approximately one in ten respondents named favouritism as the number one reason for discrimination, both in the public and private sectors.
     
The age and gender of the respondent were also among the reasons for discrimination. Female respondents in particular reported on gender-related discrimination.
      Furthermore, all respondents put discrimination based on fixed-term work contracts in fourth place on the list, while the fixed-term employees themselves regarded it as the most significant cause.
      Political opinions or trade union activities were very seldom regarded as reasons for discrimination.
      Reportedly, the most common perpetrators of bullying were colleagues or immediate superiors.
     
Akava points out that bullying and harassment can lead to needless extra expenditure, such as increased health care and sick pay costs, as well as early retirement.
      Furthermore, Akava would like to discuss an idea of similar protection for teachers or social workers as is enjoyed by the police. Then violent clients or pupils could be charged with violent resistance to officials.
     
According to the Fourth European Working Conditions Survey, Finland and Holland are at the top of the list showing the percentages of employees having experienced bullying and harassment in the workplace, while all other Nordic countries remain far behind, with Sweden and Norway both well below the European norm. Finland and The Netherlands also headed the "intimidation" tables in 2000.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Municipal personnel under growing threat of violence (10.4.2007)
  Threats and intimidation commonplace at many Helsinki health clinics (9.11.2006)
  Study: One in three women have suffered from harassment at work (23.8.2004)

Links:
  Eurofound also carried out a national survey on working conditions in Finland in 2006
  Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland (Akava)
  4th European Working Conditions Survey (Eurofound)