On Sunday, 14 June, National Conciliator Anu Sajavaara submitted a second conciliation proposal concerning the collective agreement for universities of applied sciences. OAJ’s Executive Board discussed the proposal on Tuesday morning and unanimously rejected it.

“The salary solution included in the conciliation proposal would not have even guaranteed all teachers a salary development that would have secured their purchasing power, as some teachers would have received a general increase concerning only a part of their salary. There would also have been very little in the way of correcting differences between salaries by harmonising them,” says Katarina Murto, President of  OAJ.

“The new salary system with its evaluation procedures laid out in the conciliation proposal was very confusing and left entirely up to the employer. This would leave the future salary development of the entire teaching staff largely at the discretion of the employer and could lead to further differentiation in salaries between universities of applied sciences,” says Murto.

Finnish Education Employers FEE is seeking a solution to the problem of equal salaries, for which the employer is responsible, at the expense of the salary development of teaching staff.

“OAJ is ready to seek a compromise solution without delay, as long as it ensures fair salary development and secures purchasing power for all teaching staff,” says Negotiations Director Petri Lindroos.

OAJ approved the first conciliation proposal

The employer side, Finnish Education Employers FEE, approved the proposal submitted on Sunday, as did the Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff YTN. 

OAJ would have been ready for an agreement as early as May, when the National Conciliator submitted its first conciliation proposal on 11 May 2026.However, the conciliation proposal was then rejected by the employer side.

The new conciliation proposal submitted on 14 June will be published on the National Conciliator’s website.