| New agreement for the
30,000 salaried employees in the technology industry TU (03.02.2010) A person from outside (of the parties) will set about clarifying what constitutes the factors concerning the dividing or demarcation line between salaried employees from senior salaried employees. After months of bargaining a new collective agreement for the 30,000 salaried employees in the technology industry has been reached. The board of the Union of Salaried Employees TU approved the agreement on Thursday. The first pay rise -0.5 per cent- will be paid in February. Negotiations on the following pay rise will be finalised by the end of May 2010. If the parties do not reach common understanding, the agreement may expire by the end of September 2010. The third round of negotiations will take place in spring 2011. If the negotiators fail to find a solution, the agreement may expire at the end of September 2011. A new element in the technology industry agreement is the six-day paid paternity leave. Task forces will be nominated to create proposals on how to improve the well-being and skills of employees at work. Special attention will be given to the skills of older employees. Among the goals of the task forces is a reduction in the number of sick leave days. - Now we want to get to grips with the mental load of work in particular, Markku Palokangas, TU's industrial sector director says. Clarification on demarcation factors The agreement includes a new approach on how to resolve the dispute concerning what groups of salaried employees the agreement covers. A person from outside (the parties) will seek to clarify the determining factors that demarcate or separate salaried employees from senior employees. The dispute concerns thousands of salaried employees who, according to the Union of Salaried Employees TU, have lost thousands of euros because their employers have opted to apply the agreement covering senior salaried employees to them. The task of clarification is due to be complete by the end of September 2010. And, following on from that TU and the employer association (The Federation of Finnish Technology Industry) and YTN, the organ representing senior salaried employees, should be in a position to draw up guidelines by the end of December 2010 on how to apply the collective agreements at workplaces. If these efforts do not lead to a common understanding, the technology industry collective agreement (signed by TU) may be called off by the end of January 2011.
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