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Negotiations for a new collective agreement have continued on 6–7 February, but unfortunately, no solution has yet been reached. 

Negotiations regarding the new terms and conditions for the general collective agreement for universities began in November, and the parties have reached a consensus on several phrasings.

In particular, the economic situation of the universities will have an effect on the discussions regarding the level of salary increases. The level of salary increases is,one of the causes of disagreement, and the parties still have major differences of opinion. The goal of the employer is to determine a level of salary increases that will secure the universities’ operations also during the next agreement period.

Based on the feedback from the personnel, the employer party finds that one of the most important goals is to simplify the salary system and to make the evaluation of the employee’s personal performance more encouraging and flexible. The goal is to have one shared system for all the universities also in the future.

The employer party is represented by the Association of Finnish Independent Education Employers, while the other negotiating parties are the following three organisations of salaried employees: Negotiation Organisation for Public Sector Professionals JUKO, Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL, and Federation of Salaried Employees Pardia.

Even though the validity period of the collective agreement has ended, the university complies with the conditions of the previous collective agreement also during the time with no valid agreement. Therefore, the current situation will have no direct impact on the everyday work of the employees or the university in general.

Riitta Silvennoinen
Chief Human Resources Officer, Aalto University