The staff of Tampere University went on strike for salary increases and the preservation of teaching hour caps. The 24-hour strike began on Wednesday, May 7th at 00:01 and ends at 23:59.
“Our staff has worked tremendously hard in recent years, often under very difficult conditions, for the benefit of the university and the entire society. We believe we have earned salary increases in line with the general level,” emphasizes Mika Mattila, the strike manager from Tampere University.
The consequences of removing the hourly cap for contact teaching from the collective agreement are concerning.
Teaching hour caps are an essential and important protective mechanism written into the collective agreement, which protects teaching and research staff from being overburdened at work. The Finnish Education Employers (Sivista), representing university employers, is pushing for their removal.
“This would lead to an increase in the workload for teaching staff, who are already working at the limits of their endurance to perform their duties well.”
The strike serves as a reminder that the university is its staff, and that the quality of teaching and research, as well as the well-being and salary levels of employees, must be safeguarded.
Negotiations on the collective agreement for the 35,000 university employees have been ongoing since early February. In mid-April, the labour dispute was referred to the National Conciliator. So far, no solution has been reached. The conciliation continues on Thursday, May 8th, and Friday, May 9th.
Strikes in the university sector are rare. The last time university staff went on strike was seven years ago at the University of Helsinki.
Why the strike? The labour dispute in a nutshell
- JUKO aims for salary increases that improve purchasing power and solutions to the increased workload of staff in the university collective agreement negotiations.
- University staff have not been offered salary increases in line with the general level.
- The Finnish Education Employers, representing university employers, is pushing for the removal of teaching hour caps.
- Teaching hour caps are an essential and important protective mechanism written into the collective agreement, which protects teaching and research staff from being overburdened at work. Teaching hour caps are important to all university sector unions representing JUKO’s teaching and research staff and their members.
- Negotiations have been ongoing intensively since early February, and the contract period ended at the end of March. Despite active negotiation efforts, no solutions were found at the negotiating table. In mid-April, the labour dispute was referred to the national conciliator.
- As a solution, JUKO has proposed, for example, local agreements and working group work based on research and expertise to explore how working time regulations could be developed from a university perspective.
Up-to-date information on the conciliation can also be found on JUKO’s Facebook (in Finnish).
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
