Prime Minister Stubb and his Finance Minister Antti Rinne met labour market organisations on Tuesday morning to discuss the prospects for a new economy-wide deal on pay and conditions. They found the two sides unwilling to countenance an agreement before a new government enters office after April's elections.
"It would have been good news to get a moderate deal on pay before the elections, because that would have created a certain stability and predictability for our economic policy, but unfortunately we’re not going to get that at this stage," said Stubb.
The premier says that the next chance to advance collective agreements on pay and conditions will come after April’s elections, when a new government will enter office. Stubb reckons a deal will be agreed by June at the latest.
The previous agreement between trade union confederations and employers, which was agreed in 2013, runs out in the summer. That’s the deadline for the two sides to either extend the current agreement or negotiate a new contract.
The current deal, labelled an ‘employment and growth’ pact for its supposed incentives for business, offered workers a 0.4 percent increase in the first year and a 20 euro per month raise in 2014.