The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK will demand substantial wage increases. It argues that the improved position of industries on world markets is due to a series of modest wage raises. Pressure for higher wage demands is growing, especially as a spurt in inflation has cut purchasing power. Inflation for this year is projected at 3.4%. “Finland’s competitiveness has quickly recovered to pre-recession levels and now, according to forecasts, it is more or less headed toward a record high, better than it has been for 20 years,” said Olli Koski, Chief Economist of SAK. He added, “Real earnings will decline this year because of increasing inflation, and this is rather exceptional. It will undoubtedly create pressures for wage negotiations.”
English: http://yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/06/unions_better_competitiveness_should ...
This article was published in the Collective Bargaining Newsletter. It aims to facilitate information exchange between trade unions and to support the work of ETUC's collective bargaining committee. For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2011.