Mediation proposal approved – strike by cleaners and caretakers called off

Under the mediation proposal, the wages and supplements of cleaners and caretakers will be increased by 2 per cent from 1 June. Wage increases for the second year must be agreed by 15 January 2023.

PAM’s President Annika Rönni-Sällinen says that progress in almost all the important areas led to the positive assessment.

Rönni-Sällinen says that the pay settlement was as expected.

“Negotiations in pretty much all other sectors haven’t produced pay rises above what PAM has achieved. The fact that the pay settlement is for one year only is good given current inflation. This gives us the chance to assess the situation in mid-January”, Rönni-Sällinen states.

If there’s no agreement on a pay settlement in January, the whole agreement can be terminated to end on 28 February 2023.

The system for reviewing part-time workers’ actual working hours improved, and we can look forward to  a proper solution to the midweek public holiday system, not just temporary patching-up. PAM and Real Estate Employers also agreed on a model employment contract to be put in an annex to the collective agreement.  

“Clearly there’s still room for improvement in employment terms in the facility services sector, but now we made progress in many areas. The overtime ban, the strike threat and members’ activity worked.”

Working group to reform of midweek public holiday system

The facility services agreement sector commission and PAM’s Executive Committee discussed the proposal thoroughly before approving it.

In the negotiations PAM stressed how important it is to stop cutting corners with the midweek public holiday system.

“The problems cropped up when the text was updated and employers interpreted it contrary to the intended meaning. Patching up the system could have led to new problems. Now the entire midweek public holiday system will be reviewed”, Rönni-Sällinen says.

Among other things, the working group must take into account the principle of non-discrimination in the Part-time Directive. The working group will operate until the end of 2023 and the new system will apply from the start of 2025.

 “The entry on the review of part-time workers’ hours will help part-timers to get more working hours. Then their incomes will also be more predictable”, Rönni-Sällinen explains.

Under the agreement, employers and employees will compare actual working hours and the hours agreed in the employment contract at least every 12 months. If the actual working hours are more, employees can ask their employer to change their hours to correspond to the actual hours.

The employers achieved their objective of the possibility to agree a 7-day lay-off notice period on an individual workplace basis.

Details of new collective agreement for the sector presented here