The university labour dispute and the strike threat were conciliated for the first time on April 24th.
National Conciliator Anu Sajavaara announced on the messaging service X that conciliation will continue on April 29th and 30th.
Negotiations on the collective agreement for the 35,000 university employees have been ongoing intensively since early February, and the contract period ended at the end of March.
To expedite the new agreement, employee organisations JUKO, JHL, and Pro have issued a strike notice concerning the Tampere University.
The 24-hour strike will begin on May 7th at 00:01 and end on May 7th at 23:59 if no solution is found regarding the working conditions and salary increases for the staff of Finland’s thirteen universities before then.
In addition to salary increases, the dispute concerns the teaching hour caps stipulated in the collective agreement, which are intended to protect those engaged in teaching and research work at universities from excessive workloads.
The university employers are represented in the negotiations by Finnish Education Employers FEE.
Check out a series of blog posts on the views of the employees.
University facts 2025
- Collective agreements | Universities’ general collective agreement and the provisions on teacher training schools
- Agreement period | 1st April, 2023 – 31st March, 2025
- Main contractual parties | JUKO, Trade Union Pro, Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL, and Finnish Education Employers
- JUKO’s negotiators | Head of Collective Bargaining Katja Aho (JUKO), University Advisory Board Chair and Executive Director Tarja Niemelä (Finnish Union of University Professors), Special Adviser Hanna Tanskanen (Trade Union of Education, OAJ), Negotiations Manager Petri Toiviainen (Social Science Professionals), and Negotiations Manager Reetta Kuosmanen (The Union of Research Professionals)
What is JUKO?
- JUKO, the Negotiation Organization for Public Sector Professionals, negotiates collective agreements on behalf of, and thus represents, 200,000 members of 35 Akava member unions.
- JUKO bargains collectively on behalf of employees and officials of the municipalities, well-being services counties, the state, universities and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, as well as in Yritysjaosto, the National Gallery and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
- At the workplaces, 3,500 JUKO shop stewards negotiate locally and represent members of all JUKO unions.
- Public sector professionals, supervisors or managerial positions: find your union www.jaseneksi.fi/en
- www.juko.fi
