Finland Times

 

Prime Minister Juha Sipilä in the parliament on Tuesday. Photo Lehtikuva.

Prime Minister Juha Sipilä on Tuesday said in parliament that it would be best for the government not to dictate any guideline for the tripartite steering group working on local labour agreements.

 

He also said the group is doing a good and thorough job.

 

Earlier on Monday, the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) called for a clear guideline from the government on how it should proceed with the local labour agreements, if the social contract is not realised.

 

“I do not believe it would be appropriate for the government to set bars in the middle of the steering group’s work,” said Sipilä.

 

The prime minister warned that the nation faced a big problem in the event the matter failed to progress. 

 

He said there was still time until the middle of March.

 

Justice and Labour Minister Jari Lindström in an interview on Saturday told the local newspaper consortium Lännen Media that he supports realisation of local labour agreements through collective bargaining agreements and not through legislative measures, as advocated by the Confederation of Finnish Industries-EK.

 

Antti Rinne, the leader of the main opposition Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (Social Democratic Party of Finland-SDP) expressed delight at the Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party) Minister Lindström being of the same opinion as SDP on the matter.

 

“The solution should be found within the collective bargaining agreements and not in new coercive legislation. Hopefully, this guideline will soon be approved by the entire government. The coercive [legislation] instead of cooperation and agreement in matters of labour market is a bad starting point,” said Rinne.