The Executive Board of the Trade Union of Education in Finland (OAJ) reviewed and approved the National Conciliator’s conciliation proposal today. All contracting parties, OAJ, YTN and Finnish Education Employers (FEE) submitted their responses to the conciliator by the deadline of 3 p.m.
OAJ President Katarina Murto describes the months of negotiations as exceptionally difficult.
– This was an exceptionally difficult round of negotiations. However, the overall result is quite satisfactory. We were able to push several of our goals through and managed to stand our ground in many places. The resolution follows general policy. The salaries of all teachers will develop, says Murto.
The current availability increment for teaching staff in the field of technology and transport will be eliminated; however, it will be replaced by a guaranteed component. A new personal salary system will be introduced later.
– The transition to the new locally agreed salary system will also protect personal salary levels and development. Furthermore, we achieved our goal of narrowing the salary differences: salaries will be harmonised significantly during the agreement period by means of restructuring instalments that increase lower salaries. This would not have been possible without the salary development of teachers receiving availability increments being slightly slower during the agreement period than that of others. This is due to the fact that employers did not agree to use employer’s money for the purpose of harmonisation, says Murto.
According to Murto, industrial action played a crucial role in achieving this negotiation result.
– The strikes were key to us reaching an acceptable solution overall. These negotiations were another testament to the fact that OAJ has negotiation competence and perseverance to promote the interests of its members. A huge thank you to all our members who participated in the industrial action, says Murto.
There is still room for improvement in the negotiation culture
The negotiation process was exceptionally complex and difficult.
Even though an agreement was reached, the negotiations left their mark. The way this round of negotiations was conducted left a bad aftertaste.
– Now, there’s a lot to do in terms of building the negotiation culture and trust,” says Petri Lindroos, Director of Negotiations at OAJ.
Lindroos also considers the appearance given by FEE and the rectors of universities of applied sciences about the appreciation for the teaching staff at universities of applied sciences during the negotiations to be worrying.
At universities of applied sciences, teachers do work upon which high-quality teaching and student competence is built. Without competent and committed teaching staff, universities of applied sciences cannot perform their basic tasks. This should also be reflected in how employees are treated and how their employment terms are negotiated, says Lindroos.
End of industrial action
The new collective agreement will enter into force on 11 September 2026 and remain in force until 31 March 2029.
Upon conclusion of the agreement, all industrial action will cease. The industrial action planned for next week at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, Laurea University of Applied Sciences, Häme University of Applied Sciences, Jamk University of Applied Sciences, Tampere University of Applied Sciences and Turku University of Applied Sciences will be cancelled.
Salary increases in line with general policy
The conciliation proposal includes salary increases in line with general policy for 2026 and 2027. The solution consists of general increases, arrangement instalments and local instalments.
