Service Union United PAM announces strikes in the commerce sector – PAM’s wage increase demands are unrealistic

Today, Friday 31 January 2025, PAM announced that it will start massive strikes in the commerce sector. The strikes will particularly target the largest logistics and daily consumer goods trade operators in the commerce sector. The Finnish Commerce Federation has actively sought a joint solution through negotiations throughout January. PAM’s strike announcement means that the joint work will go to waste.

On Friday 31 January 2025, PAM announced strikes that will particularly target large logistics and daily consumer goods trade operators in the commerce sector. The strikes concerning logistics will start on Monday 17 February 2025 at 5:00 a.m. and end on Thursday 20 February 2025 at 5:00 a.m. or after the end of a shift that started before 5:00 a.m. The strikes concerning the daily consumer goods trade and stores start on Wednesday 19 February 2025 at 5:00 a.m. and end on Saturday 22 February 2025 at 5:00 a.m. or after the end of a shift that started before 5:00 a.m. PAM also declared a ban on shift changes and transfers in the entire commerce sector as of 3 February 2025. The ban shall remain in force until further notice.

Following the notifications of industrial action, the negotiations will continue from here under the direction of the National Conciliator. However, the Finnish Commerce Federation will not negotiate during the strikes.

PAM’s excessive wage increase demand threatens specialty goods trade and technical trade in particular

PAM has proposed a wage increase of 10 per cent for employees in the commerce sector and, in addition, numerous other changes to the collective agreement that increase the employer’s costs. Payment discussions had only just started when PAM suspended the negotiations and announced the strikes.

The wage increases that PAM is aiming for would have a very detrimental impact on the competitiveness and profitability of the entire commerce sector in a time when demand has shrunk. Specialty goods trade and technical wholesale trade are already in extremely fierce international competition, and the past few years have been very challenging for them. In addition, the entire commerce sector is burdened by the increase in VAT.

“The wage increase that PAM demands would lead to the loss of jobs and, at worst, a growing wave of bankruptcies following the bankruptcies of Plantagen and RTV,” says Anna Lavikkala, Labour Market Director at the Finnish Commerce Federation.

“We are negotiating a collective agreement binding on the entire commerce sector. Therefore, we cannot price the solution based solely on successful companies. Instead, the agreement must be based on the average payment capacity of commerce,” she says.

The purchasing power of wage earners will strengthen this year

The Bank of Finland has predicted inflation to be 0.8 per cent in 2025. A wage increase higher than this will improve the purchasing power of employees.

Taxation also affects purchasing power. Income tax relief in 2025 will increase the purchasing power of net salaries of employees earning a maximum of approximately EUR 2,700 per month by approximately 0.3 per cent. In 2023, the average salary of salespeople was EUR 2,669. The tax concessions are therefore targeted at a large proportion of the employees in the commerce sector.

New pay system developed for salespeople – resulting in major strikes

In the negotiations in 2023, the unions agreed on a major renewal of the salespeople’s pay system. This has been an important common goal of the unions since the beginning, and a lot has been invested in it. Now, all the work that has been done for the sector’s wages may go to waste due to the strikes.

“It seems that the development of the collective agreement for the commercial sector and working life come second to SAK’s wage struggle in PAM’s goals. This raises serious questions about the efficiency of the labour market system and its ability to solve the challenges of the changing operating environment,” says Lavikkala.

PAM’s demands for overtime compensation for part-time employees are unfounded

PAM has also proposed massive tightening of the contracting of part-time work. PAM accelerated its demands by making the Court of Justice of the EU’s ruling on part-time work public. The assessment of the consequences of the ruling in Finland is the responsibility of the legislator, not the collective agreement table of commerce.

The provisions of the collective agreement concerning part-time work have been developed during several previous rounds of collective agreement negotiations. Throughout the negotiations, the Finnish Commerce Federation has held constructive discussions on the goals important to PAM and actively tried to find solutions taking into account the flexibility needed in the sector. However, full-time work cannot be created for everyone by force, as the workload of commerce depends on customer flows.

For further information, please contact: Anna Lavikkala, Labour Market Director, Finnish Commerce Federation, tel. +358 (0)40 040 6088, anna.lavikkala(at)kauppa.fi

Specific strikes:

The strikes announced by PAM apply to work in line with the following collective labour agreements:

  • collective agreement for the commercial sector
  • collective agreement protocol for ICT salaried employees in the commercial sector
  • collective agreement protocol for Hankkija-Maatalous sales personnel
  • collective agreement for retail logistics supervisors
  • collective agreement for retail supervisors

The strikes concerning logistics: Monday 17 February 2025 at 5:00 a.m.–Thursday 20 February 2025 at 5:00 a.m. or after the end of a shift that started before 5:00 a.m.

The strike applies to all operations in the following companies:

  • Alfaroc Oy
  • Barona Logistiikkaratkaisut Oy
  • Be Group Oy Ab
  • Broman Logistics Oy
  • Inex Partners Oy
  • KWH Freeze Oy/Ab
  • Meira Nova Oy
  • Onninen Oy
  • Postnord Oy
  • Posti 3PL Etelä-Suomi Oy
  • Posti 3PL Pääkaupunkiseutu Oy
  • Turun Restapersonnel Oy
  • Valionova Tukku- ja logistiikkapalvelut Oy
  • Wihuri Metro-Tukku

The strike also applies to all logistics and office operations in:

  • Kesko Oyj
  • Kokkolan Halpa-Halli Oy
  • Lidl Suomi Ky
  • Tokmanni Oy

The strikes concerning stores: Wednesday 19 February 2025 at 5:00 a.m.–Saturday 22 February 2025 at 5:00 a.m. or after the end of a shift that started before 5:00 a.m.

The strike applies to all operations in the following companies:

  • Etelä-Karjalan Osuuskauppa
  • Etelä-Pohjanmaan Osuuskauppa
  • HOK-Elanto Liiketoiminta Oy
  • kaikki K-citymarketit, K-citymarket kauppiaat, K-supermarketit, K-marketit
  • Koillismaan Osuuskauppa
  • Kymen seudun Osuuskauppa
  • Osuuskauppa Arina
  • Osuuskauppa Hämeenmaa
  • Osuuskauppa Keskimaa
  • Osuuskauppa Keula
  • Osuuskauppa KPO
  • Osuuskauppa Maakunta
  • Osuuskauppa PeeÄssä
  • Osuuskauppa Suur-Savo
  • Osuuskauppa Varuboden – Osla Handelslag
  • Pirkanmaan Osuuskauppa
  • Pohjois-Karjalan Osuuskauppa
  • Satakunnan Osuuskauppa
  • Suur-Seudun Osuuskauppa
  • Turun Osuuskauppa

The strike also applies to regional terminals, wholesale pickup, and business operations in:

  • Kesko Oyj alueterminaalit ja Kespro noutotukku- ja liiketoiminta

The strike applies to all retail operations in:

  • Kokkolan Halpa-Halli Oy – stores
  • Lidl Suomi Ky – stores
  • Tokmanni Oy – stores
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