Strike action scheduled to start in the construction sector on Thursday 10 March was cancelled after parties to the dispute approved a compromise proposal of the National Conciliator Essa Lonka. Part of the deal is aimed at battling the grey economy in the building trade. The deal will now go for final approval by the boards of the Finnish Construction Trade Union and the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries RT. The agreement put forward by the National Conciliator calls for an immediate 2.55% wage rise. An overtime ban in the sector has also been called off. The Construction Trade Union had initially demanded a 3.5% wage rise, whereas the employers' first offer was 1.6%. Union leader Matti Harjuniemi told a press agency that he believes the new contract will be approved.
English: http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/03/strike_averted_in_construction ...
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.