Organizations have had difficulty finding common ground, especially when it comes to salary increases. While PAM had rejected the first settlement proposal on the grounds that a percentage-based increase would not have sufficiently benefited low-wage workers, it also rejected the €91 increase offered in the previous proposal as insufficient.
Annika Rönni-SällinenPAM president, said on Wednesday that the union is disappointed that it has to extend the strike, but even more disappointed that there still appears to be no willingness to offer higher wages to workers in the low-wage sector.
The trade union started collective bargaining with the aim of raising monthly wages by 200 euros. “We have naturally fallen from this and now we are talking about an increase of around one hundred for the first year of the contract,” he told YLE.
Pia GraménThe CEO of KITA claimed that the wage increases demanded by the union are unreasonable in relation to the financial situation of the industry and companies. He estimates that a bump of even 91 euros would be too high for the industry.
“It might seem like we’re pretty close. But when you calculate the cost implications, we’re pretty far apart,” he complained to the broadcaster.
Rönni-Sällinen told YLE that the union will re-examine the situation when the negotiations continue under the guidance of the national mediator on Monday.
“An agreement is always found sooner or later. The starting point is that we are trying to reach an agreement,” he assured.
The two-day strike is expected to have a wide impact on cleaning and property maintenance services in Finland. For about a dozen service providers, it does not affect emergency and other socially critical services, surgical operations in specialized medical care, the operation of nuclear power plants or food industry facilities where animals are slaughtered.
PAM has announced that it is ready to organize a third strike if no agreement is reached by March 30.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page