Employees in the ski resort sector threaten to go on strike at Christmas – good profitability must be reflected in wages
Strike at Vuokatti on 1 December 2022.
Today Service Union United PAM issued a new strike warning in the ski resort sector for the Christmas public holidays.
The unwillingness of employers to give ground in the wage settlement for the ski resort sector is leading to a new work stoppage. Profitability has been very good in the sector in the previous season and this season also looks to be excellent. Employees have been annoyed by their employers’ unwillingness to raise pay. Strikes are due to begin on 23 December and go on to Christmas Day.
“We don’t want to spoil Christmas for anyone, but we don’t see any other way in this situation. Of course I hope that in the end strikes will not be necessary”, stresses PAM President Annika Rönni-Sällinen.
“The employers’ federation MaRa is in a position to resolve the matter – the sector can afford pay rises. Employees in the sector expect the situation to be resolved quickly”, Rönni-Sällinen continues.
The ski resort sector has been without a collective agreement since the start of November. On November 17, PAM broke off collective agreement negotiations and issued a strike warning because the negotiations were going nowhere. PAM’s and MaRa’s objectives were too far apart, so the National Conciliator also considered that she was not in a position to make a conciliation settlement and PAM implemented a limited work stoppage at six ski resorts between 1 and 3 December 2022.
The next work stoppage will be at Christmas. The stoppage will start at 00.01 on Friday, December 23, unless an agreement is reached before then. The strike will end at midnight on Sunday, December 25.
The strike will affect the following ski resorts:
- Rukakeskus Oy (Ruka slopes)
- Pyhätunturi Oy (Pyhätunturi slopes)
- Oy Levi Ski Resort Ltd (Levi slopes)
- Huippupaikat Oy (Vuokatti and Tahko slopes)
- Ylläs (Iso-Ylläs and Ski Ylläs Oy)
More information on the ski resort strike here in Finnish.
The collective agreement for the ski resort sector applies to office staff and employees of companies in the ski resort sector who are covered by the Working Hours Act, including ski slope workers, ticket sales and equipment rental workers, maintenance team and field workers and ski instructors.