Workers at the Helsinki dockyard of Russian-owned shipbuilder Arctech downed tools and walked off the job. The industrial action came during negotiations on the government's competitiveness pact by employer and employee representatives. Arctech chief executive described the action as an ‘illegal strike’. Employees wanted to discuss issues such as wages as well as the a so-called ‘survival clause’ in the competitiveness deal, which may be invoked in cases when an employer runs into financial difficulty that could result in job cuts or changes to wage and salary agreements. The terms and conditions of the clause should be agreed by employer and employee representatives in collective bargaining talks. The trade unions said that employer representatives only wanted to discuss the proposal of extending working hours by 24 hours per year.
English: http://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/helsinki_shipyard_workers_down_tools …
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Willy De Backer wdebacker@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. Since June 2013 readers can consult our archive and search through all articles in our database at www.cbnarchive.eu. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.
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