A three-day strike in Finland’s private social services sector starts on Tuesday, 17 February, after unions and employers rejected a mediation proposal on pay.
The dispute covers more than 70,000 employees across the sector and affects selected units run by companies including Attendo, Esperi and Mehiläinen.
Action focuses on care homes in Lapland and North Ostrobothnia, as well as some child protection units elsewhere in the country.
The collective agreement applies to private services such as housing for older people and people with disabilities, residential homes, shelters, home care and social and health organisations.
Negotiations on a new agreement have continued since November.
The National Conciliator issued a settlement proposal on Saturday that set out a cumulative pay rise of 6.2 per cent over a 28-month contract period. The figure aligns with the export-led pay norm.
Under a municipal and wellbeing services agreement reached last May, wages in the public health and social care sector rise by 7.37 per cent over three years.
Three of the five negotiating parties on the employee side supported the proposal.
The largest union in the sector, Super, accepted the proposal after an overall assessment.
The Public and Welfare Sectors Union JHL and the employers’ association Hyvinvointiala Hali rejected it. Because Hali did not approve the proposal, no agreement entered into force.
JHL said the offer failed to close the pay gap with the public sector. “The rejected settlement proposal would not have corrected the problem, but specifically increased it,” said Håkan Ekström, chair of JHL, in a statement.
He said pay development in private social services has lagged behind that of employees performing the same work in the public sector.
Hali said it opposed the way increases were targeted. “The largest pay increases were allocated to the highest experience increments, which we consider inappropriate,” said Kati Virtanen, labour market director at Hali.
“In our view, the focus should be more on new professionals entering the sector, as their pay is relatively lower,” she said.
Unions involved in the dispute include Super, Tehy and Erto under the Sote umbrella, as well as JHL, Talentia and the Salli negotiation organisation.
Super has also imposed a ban on shift swaps across workplaces covered by the agreement since 29 January. Its members do not change shifts unless the employer agrees to pay compensation.
The union has introduced a recruitment ban at Attendo, Esperi and Mehiläinen units covered by the agreement, where members do not apply for or accept jobs at those companies while the ban remains in force.
JHL said the strike covers all duties in selected units in Lapland and North Ostrobothnia, as well as certain lower pay grade tasks more widely. The highest pay grades remain outside the action.
Talentia’s action targets child protection institutions across different regions.
The walkout runs until Thursday, 19 February.
HT