Collective agreement for the commerce sector has been established
The Finnish Commerce Federation and the Service Union United PAM reached an understanding on the Collective Agreement for the Commercial Sector late on Tuesday, 1 February 2022. The Finnish Commerce Federation describes the solution as moderate, but also sees that maintaining and developing the competitive strength of the industry will require more extensive, structural reforms in the future.
The terms and conditions for the employment of employees and supervisors in the commerce sector were agreed for a two-year period. With the agreement, salaries will raised by 2 per cent as of 1 May 2022.
The second year is the so-called option year, i.e. pay increases for 2023 will be agreed by 15 December. If no solution is found for the 2023 pay increases by 15 December, the collective agreement can be terminated to end on 31 January 2023.
The pandemic has created major challenges for some speciality shops while also exacerbating the general uncertainty. According to the Finnish Commerce Federation, the outcome of the negotiations confirmed today can, in these circumstances, be described as moderate.
“In collective bargaining, progress was made in the flexibility of working time sought by employers, but there is still a lot of work to be done to improve the operating environment of commerce. Through negotiations, we were not able to adequately address the sector’s polarisation and sorely needed reform,” says Anna Lavikkala, Labour Market Director at the Finnish Commerce Federation.
“Fierce international competition and the strong digitalisation of commerce still require a great deal of work, so that the terms and conditions of employment of the commerce sector can be adapted, for example, to the 24/7 shopping behaviour of customers,” Lavikkala continues.
One of the objectives of the collective agreement solution was to take into account the position of part-time employees, who are important for commerce, and to pay attention to the employees’ well-being.
In addition, as part of the collective bargaining solution, agreement was reached on the completion of wage reform for salaried employees in the commerce sector. The new model is better suited for paying attention to the skills of employees and rewarding better performance.
Further information:
Labour Market Director Anna Lavikkala, Finnish Commerce Federation, tel. +358 (0)400 406 088, anna.lavikkala(at)kauppa.fi
More detailed results of the negotiations will be published on the website of the negotiating parties on Thursday, 3 February 2022.
