JHL calls 3-day strike at private social services sector on Feb 17-19

The Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors-JHL on Sunday decided to observe strike at the companies of the Finnish Association of Private Care Providers (Hyvinvointiala HALI ry-Hali) from Tuesday to Thursday, said JHL in a press release.

The unions announced to observe the strike as per the warning issued late January as the Union Council of JHL did not accept the settlement proposal that the National Conciliator issued for the collective agreement dispute on Saturday evening.

The strike concerns selected private social services sector workplaces in different parts of Finland.

According to JHL, the National Conciliator’s settlement proposal does not meet the real needs of the sector nor secure fair pay development for the employees.

“A strike is never an end in itself. The proposed settlement does not fix the pay gap, it only makes the gap wider. Our values are not for sale, and JHL’s objectives are not met sufficiently. That is why we could not accept the proposal”, said JHL President Håkan Ekström.

Ekström said that the professionals in the private social services sector do demanding work with significant responsibility, and their pays cannot be left permanently behind the pays for the same work in the public sector.

“The pay disparity compared to the SOTE agreement in the public sector has grown for a long time. The rejected settlement proposal would not have fixed the problem. On the contrary, it would have made the problem even bigger,” the JHL President said.

JHL criticised the tight coordination of the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), which prevents developing pays in individual sectors saying that when similar pay increase percentages are applied to all sectors, the pay gaps of low-paid female-dominated sectors just grow wider.

At the same time, the Finnish Government’s cost-cutting measures and legislative changes increase insecurity in the sector, said the union.

An example of this is the change that would permit making fixed-term employment contracts for a maximum of one year without specifying the grounds.

This would affect especially female-dominated sectors. When fixed-term employment contracts can be made without specified grounds, it will increase the risk of discrimination for pregnancy and family leaves and make working life more insecure, said JHL.

“The National Conciliator should have considered gender equality issues better in the proposal”, Ekström added.

The employer party has stuck to the general pay increase level of the export-led model, and that prevents fixing pay gaps, said JHL.

“JHL cannot accept a dictation policy. The settlement proposal that was issued would increase the pay gap in terms of euros compared to export sectors and also compared to the public sector, where the pay for the same work is significantly better. We do not accept this”, Ekström said.

The rejected settlement proposal followed negotiations that have been conducted since November.

The National Conciliator began mediating the dispute at the end of January. JHL’s view is that the settlement proposal did not include fixes for points that are critical for the employees in this sector.

“We still hope that a solution is reached as soon as possible. But the solution must be fair for those who do work that is necessary for the entire Finnish welfare state. We cannot accept an agreement that cements too low pays and undermines the future of the sector,” said the JHL President.

The collective agreement for the private social services sector covers for example services for the elderly and for people with disabilities, mother-and-child homes, shelters, child welfare institutions, personal assistance and home help services where more than 90% of the employees are women.