Finnish Food and Drink Industries Federation (ETL) negotiates collective agreements for employees and salaried employees in the food industry. The employee-side negotiating partner is the Finnish Food Workers’ Union SEL, while salaried employees are represented by Trade Union Pro and Professional Dairy Association MVL.
The first negotiations for new collective agreements began in mid-December 2024 with SEL, as the existing agreements for food industry workers were set to expire at the end of January. At the beginning of 2025, negotiations also started for new agreements for salaried employees, as the agreement with Pro was set to expire at the end of February and the agreement with MVL at the end of March.
The first agreement to be renewed was the one negotiated with Pro, covering 6,250 salaried employees. This was followed by the agreement with MVL, covering 1,350 employees. Both agreements are three-year contracts. The Pro agreement runs until 29 February 2028, and the MVL agreement until 31 March 2028.
Prolonged negotiations
Negotiations with SEL regarding collective agreements for food industry workers proved difficult. In early February, SEL broke off talks and announced bans on overtime and shift changes. SEL also threatened industrial action targeting bakery companies, prompting the National Conciliator to step in.
During spring, SEL continued to escalate with strikes and strike threats in bakeries and other sectors of the food industry, rejecting the conciliator’s proposal three times. ETL, for its part, would have accepted all of the proposals.
At the core of the dispute was the Finnish Parliament’s repeal of the last remaining clause of the Bakery Work Act, which had required a 100 per cent night shift premium for bakery workers, a provision that was no longer applicable.
The dispute was mediated several times by the National Conciliator’s office. Finally, just before Easter, on 14 April, both SEL and ETL accepted the conciliator’s proposal, resulting in new collective agreements for food industry workers. These agreements are valid until 31 March 2028 and cover approximately 25 000 workers.
Anne Somer, Director at ETL (Working life, future workforce and skills), notes that while peace has returned to industry, the negotiation processes were very different depending on the agreement.
– We reached constructive outcomes in negotiations on salaried employees, whereas the disputes and strikes on workers’ side seriously eroded trust, Somer says.
– Even difficult issues must be resolved without industrial action. Prolonged negotiations, overtime and shift change bans, and actual strikes caused unreasonable harm to companies.
– The long-standing restrictions and strikes will have a lasting impact on operations. It was especially disproportionate to punish other sectors of the food industry when the core issue involved only one specific agreement.
– Whatever the future direction of collective bargaining in food industry, reforms must be pursued with determination. The ongoing transformation of the food sector and the changing demands of work require us to act in good time, Somer emphasizes.
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