Most TEK members will be getting a raise again this year. The Technology Industry Employers of Finland and the Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff YTN approved new collective agreements for the technology industries, the consulting sector and the IT service sector at the turn of the year.
In each of the agreements, the salary increase rates for this year are 1.8 percent. The salary settlement for 2023 will be decided this autumn. The collective agreements in question cover more than 100,000 senior salaried employees.
Chair of YTN and Labour Market Director of TEK Teemu Hankamäki considers the retaining of the general increase as part of the salary settlement to be the most important element of the agreements for members. The across-the-board increase in the 2022 salary settlement is 0.9 percent. The remaining 0.9 percent, i.e. half of the 1.8 percent raise, remains to be allocated by employers.
As always, YTN’s goal for the negotiations was to secure salary increases for TEK members to retain their purchasing power. The Ministry of Finance estimated in December that inflation will accelerate to 2.6 percent in 2022, so the purchasing power is now expected to decrease.
What would you say to those who may be disappointed, Teemu Hankamäki?
– It is true that especially if you have to make do with the 0.9 percent raise, it will not cover inflation. However, we had to push hard to get the employer side to agree to the general increase at all without resorting to measures to exert pressure on them. They were against it until the very end.
“I wish the parties would show wisdom”
According to Hankamäki, the underlying premise of the collective agreements is that salary increases are negotiated and, if possible, agreed upon locally at first.
– I wish the local parties would now show wisdom in this respect, considering that most companies have achieved extremely good results and the outlook remains quite positive. Employers should now reward the people behind these results, especially since the work done by TEK members often provides work for many others as well.
Hankamäki points out that the salaries of many TEK members on the employer side are locally decided by another TEK member also representing the employer side.
– You can agree locally to pay above the minimum rates specified in the collective agreement, which has now been concluded.
The round of collective agreement negotiations will continue at least until the summer.
– The terms for many industries are still undecided and the negotiations in the public sector are just now starting. In addition, it is worth keeping in mind that roughly 15 percent of TEK members are not covered by any collective agreements (työehtosopimus, tes or virkaehtosopimus, ves). In such cases, it is more or less up to the employer alone to decide on salary increases.