The personnel of the universities of applied sciences belong to the Sivista agreement

A new collective agreement for the staff of universities of applied sciences was agreed upon in the spring of 2024.

Collective bargaining
10.09.2024 - 12:57

22 vocational schools operate under the administration of the Ministry of Education and Culture, all of which are members of Sivista (Finnish Education Employers FEE). 

The terms and conditions of the employment relationship are stipulated in the collective agreement for the private teaching sector of the educational institutions, which is specified in appendix 14 of the universities of applied sciences.

The current collective agreement is valid until 31 March 2026. The contract can be terminated by 30 April 2025, if the parties cannot agree on the salary increases for the second year. 

Almost 4,000 OAJ members.

Negotiators Pasi Repo and Markku Seppälä.

Negotiations 2026

The first strikes of UAS’s history

  • Conciliation between the negotiating parties continues under the leadership of the National Conciliator.
  • Next week will be the seventh week of the strikes, and the universities of applied sciences in Häme (May 19) and Vaasa (May 20) and Lapland (May 21) will be on strike, if no agreement has been reached before that.
  • This week, the strikes will be at Laurea University of Applied Sciences on Tuesday, May 12, and at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences on Wednesday, May 13.
  • OAJ has issued eighteen notices of a strike so far. The strikes at universities of applied sciences have been ongoing for the sixth week, as no solution has been reached in the mediation process.
  • Altogether there has been 12 strikes at the universities of applied sciences so far: JAMK (15 April), Savonia (16 April), Xamk (21 April), LAB (22 April), Metropolia (23 April, second strike), Turku (28 April), Satakunta (29 April), JAMK (5 May, second strike), Oulu (6 May), Tampere (7 May, second strike).
  • The first strike of the history of UAS’s was on April 8 at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.  A one-day strike was followed by a similar strike at Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) on April 9. 

Notices of strike and conciliation

  • Due to the decision of the Labour Court, OAJ decided to cancel the strike at Turku University of Applied Sciences (14 April). 
  • On 13 April, the Labour Court issued its ruling on FEE’s action concerning the legality of the first three notices of strike issued by OAJ in March. The Labour Court stated that the notices of strikes concerning universities of applied sciences issued by OAJ in March were premature, as YTN had not yet concluded its negotiations with FEE. 
  • Conciliation between the negotiating parties has been initiated under the leadership of the National Conciliator. At the beginning of the conciliation, several textual questions are discussed where we disagree with the employer. 
  • April 1, a non-agreement period began, during which the so-called after-effect applies, meaning that salaries will continue to be paid normally, and work will be carried out under the same conditions as before. However, there is no longer an obligation to maintain industrial peace.
  • OAJ issued strike warnings to Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) and Turku University of Applied Sciences (strikes on April 9 and April 14).
  • On 24 March, OAJ issued a notice of strike concerning Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (strike on April 8).

Negotiations between January and March

  • OAJ concluded the collective agreement negotiations on 23 March because FEE was not willing to seek a solution that would not weaken employment terms or lower salaries.
  • The employer side has made a proposal whereby it seeks to weaken the terms of employment. FEE has also publicly proposed lowering of the highest salaries. OAJ believes that equal pay should be achieved by raising minimum salaries, not by lowering anyone’s salary.
  • The parties have reviewed their goals in the negotiations, prepared text proposals and discussed, among other things, the remuneration of teaching staff and working-time regulations.
  • OAJ’s key negotiation objectives include a salary agreement that supports purchasing power, improving the position of shop stewards and occupational safety and health representatives and developing the collective agreement.
  • At the end of January, OAJ, YTN and FEE, which represents the employers, began negotiations on the collective agreement for universities of applied sciences. The current collective agreement is valid until 31 March 2026.  

 

Negotiations 2024

The new collective agreement was negotiated during the winter and spring 2024. The current collective agreement is valid until 31 March 2026. The contract can be terminated by 30 April 2025, if the parties cannot agree on the salary increases for the second year. The parties will negotiate on the increases next winter.

The universities of applied sciences continue to have two personnel groups: the teaching personnel and the expert and support personnel. The teaching staff’s salary and working time regulations remain practically the same.

The texts were modified during the negotiations so that they would better correspond to the current practices and concepts.

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