4-day strike begins at private schools, daycares

Private schools and daycare centre remain closed across the country as the employees started a four-day strike on Monday demanding negotiations on the union members’ terms and conditions of employment in the private teaching sector.

New collective agreement has not been reached yet, and this means that the planned strike from May 13 to May 16 will take place, said the Public and Welfare Sectors Trade Union- JHL.

Conciliation and the efforts to reach a negotiation result will continue.

The strike involves in total over 2000 JHL, the Federation of Public and Private Sector Employees- Jyty and the Trade Union of Education in Finland (OAJ) members covered by the collective agreement for the private teaching sector in seven towns and cities.

The purpose of the strike is to speed up the process of negotiating a new collective agreement, which has taken a long time.

“Strikes are always an extreme measure and require contribution from our members. We want to thank those who took part in the previous strike and send huge support for those who are going to take industrial action next week (May 13 to 16)! Our members’ participation makes a big difference,” JHL’s Senior Bargaining Specialist Hanna Katajamäki told on Friday.

The collective agreement negotiations for the private teaching sector began in March. While the negotiations were on Easter break, the old collective agreement expired and a period without agreement began.

After Easter the employee organisations had to stop the negotiations and issue a strike warning.

Negotiations were resumed already in the next day in the National Conciliator’s office.

In April the National Conciliator put forward a conciliation proposal, but the employee organisations turned it down. The strike was observed on April 23 and 24.

After the first strike, conciliation has continued and the negotiating parties have met each other frequently, but a solution has not been achieved.

Katajamäki told that the employee party has not been satisfied with the employer’s propositions on the pay raise amounts.

“We are largely in agreement with the employer party on the changes to the collective agreement text, but we have not reached an outcome regarding the length of the future agreement period and the level of pay raises,” Katajamäki added.

Conciliation will continue at latest on 20 May.