Finns agree on third year increases

Employers and unions in Finland have agreed pay increases for the third year of an agreement first signed on 30 August 2013. The three-year settlement started in November 2013, but did not include a pay increase for the third year, with the two sides agreeing only to talk again this June.

These talks have now concluded with a settlement providing for an increase of 0.43% or at least €16 a month. Prices are currently falling very slightly in Finland – down 0.1% in June 2015 on the year before. But a planned 0.5% increase in both employees’ and employers’ contributions to unemployment insurance will absorb the pay increase except for the lowest paid. The government has, however, promised to cut taxes, so real take-home pay should improve.

The deal was signed between the union confederations and the employers’ associations at national level, confirming that Finland has returned to national rather than industry-level bargaining, at least for the present.