Thousands of disputes resolved, most of them out of court
Photo: PAM's archive / Marja Seppälä
Last year, members contacted PAM approximately 50,000 times for help with employment contract issues. Close to 1,000 of these cases required resolution by PAM. Most disputes are handled at the workplace or at PAM’s local branch offices, and do not require intervention from the judicial system.
PAM has a large and diverse membership base, which means that many challenging and unclear workplace situations, missing salaries or bonuses as well as other disagreements crop up during the space of one year. In 2018, PAM logged approximately 50,000 requests for help in employment contract matters. Most requests were made by phone. PAM’s shop stewards also support members, but they do not keep statistics of the cases they help resolve.
If an employment contract issue referred to PAM cannot be resolved with consultation or a discussion at the workplace, it can be logged as a dispute in PAM’s dispute register. Most commonly, a representative from the local PAM branch will then begin to sort out the issue using various methods. Last year, 927 such disputes were registered.
If, for example, suspected unlawful terminations, occupational safety breaches or cases of discrimination cannot be resolved otherwise, PAM may grant its members legal aid. However, only 112 cases were taken to court last year, representing 0.2% of the year’s total 50,000 requests. In addition, more than half of these cases are settled without a full trial. This means that PAM members do not pose an unreasonable burden on the courts considering how many requests for support are logged each year.
