Minna Helle
Minna Helle is the new National Conciliator
The Finnish Government appointed Master of Laws Minna Helle as the new National Conciliator of labour disputes. She is the first women to hold this position. The appointment is for four years.
At the moment Minna Helle, 42, is working as the Director of Negotiations and Social Policy at the Finnish Confederation of Professionals STTK. She will take up her new post in January 2015.
She has been working previously as a legal adviser at the Union of Journalists in Finland and as the director for employment relations and social policy both at Tehy, the Union of Health and Social Care Professionals and in Akava, the Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland.
The task of the National Conciliator is to assist the negotiating partners in the conciliation of labour disputes if a collective agreement cannot be reached without outside help. The arbitration system is based on the Act on Mediation in Labour Disputes.
It is compulsory to participate in the mediation of labour disputes but the parties to a dispute do not have to accept the Conciliator’s proposal. However, in some difficult disputes the role of the National Conciliator can be crucial.
In order to make the conciliation process possible the labour market parties must give two weeks notice concerning the commencement or extension of a work stoppage arising from a labour dispute.
Minna Helle was the candidate of choice for the STTK and SAK, Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions.
Heikki Jokinen