Membership applications are received at a steady pace, more frequent communication with contracting partners

The first new members of Technology Industry Employers of Finland were accepted in early September. The more than 200 member companies obtained in three weeks are a good start for the young association, and more membership applications are arriving all the time. This is a good starting point!

The employers’ association was established to negotiate nationwide collective agreements for the technology industries. Trade unions monitor how the number of members develops in order to ensure that the employers’ association has enough leverage to represent the technology industries in national bargaining activities.

For this reason, if a company has already decided to become a member of the Technology Industry Employers of Finland, it is advisable to apply for membership. Click this link to apply for membership. The next date when new members will again be approved at the Board meeting is 22 September.

Increasing communication with contracting partners

The current collective agreements for the industry will terminate at the end of November, and trade unions and we are both preparing for agreement negotiations. Negotiations are like an orienteering competition, where the finish line (collective agreement) is somewhere on the map and the parties have multiple starts from different directions. When preparing for the negotiations, both parties place their own control points (objectives) on the map, and then they try to find them together.

The start of the actual negotiations has not yet been agreed, but there will be more frequent communication during September. The aim is to find a common map sheet and a shared vision of the number of control points to be placed on the map.

In order to reach an agreement, a common vision concerning the various issues must naturally be found. This requires motion from both parties and control points must be approached from more or less the same direction. Some of the intermediate targets can be found and some have to be abandoned when no common approach is found. However, a sufficient number of control points found together is needed for successful negotiations.

I look forward to constructive and reformative cooperation.

I have had the honour to share on several occasions my own expectations for the upcoming negotiation round. On all occasions, I have said that I look forward to constructive and reformative cooperation.

My expectation is based on the fact that when negotiations start, the parties already share the common objective of achieving a national collective agreement. Commitment to negotiations, common objectives and, hopefully, a joint aim to reform working conditions provide a good basis for future negotiations.

A lot of work is still required to realise expectations. In a few weeks’ time, we will be able to assess how we have succeeded in the joint project with our negotiating partners.

Jarkko Ruohoniemi
CEO, Technology Industry Employers of Finland