Employers also ready for incomes policy negotiations following postponement

The Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), which represents employers in Finland, yesterday decided that it is ready to engage in negotiations seeking a comprehensive economic and incomes policy settlement. As recently as the beginning of October EK had taken the view that negotiations could not begin until the employee organisations changed their objectives.

Several weeks ago all three of Finland's labour confederations &#;8211 SAK, STTK and AKAVA – announced that they were ready to embark on incomes policy talks. However, these organisations insisted that the right time for bargaining as to objectives was after the incomes policy negotiations had begun, and not before this.

The Board of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions – SAK will now consider the new bargaining situation at its meeting scheduled for Monday 1 November. This meeting will seek to settle the details of SAK's qualitative bargaining objectives. Attention will return to the organisation's pay and purchasing power targets only after it has seen the progress that can be made in bargaining on qualitative issues.

The Delegate Council of SAK is due to convene on 26–27 November. SAK President Lauri Ihalainen feels that the outlook for a successful incomes policy bargaining round will have become clear by this time.