Issues subject to negotiations include, among others:  

• Salary adjustments
• Salaries
• Working time
• Holidays
• Pay for absences
• Other absences and other employment relationship benefits 

The contents of the agreements are fully renegotiated at each negotiation round, during which any previously negotiated benefits are subject to change. 

The agreements include both qualitative and financial matters. Qualitative matters are usually discussed first in the negotiations. Salaries are usually discussed last, right at the end of the negotiations.

Minimum level determined by the agreements

One of the things collective agreements specify is the minimum salary level, which can be further improved in local agreements. In addition, there are various laws regarding work, such as the Collective Agreements Act, the Act on Collective Agreements for Municipal Employees and the Act on Collective Agreements for Government Officials, as well as legislation concerning specific degrees of education. 

OAJ members are affected by a total of nine different agreements that OAJ conducts negotiations on. 

What kind of matters are not agreed in collective agreements?

Collective agreement negotiations are governed by the Acts on Collective Agreements. They set the framework for the agreements by specifying what cannot be determined in these agreements. Such matters include, for example, the arrangement or organisation of work covered by the agreement, the management and division of work, and working time investments or other work-related investments.  

The agreements do not include provision on, for example, the size of teaching groups, the number of posts, the teachers’ work tasks or the curriculum or work plan. These all fall under the employer’s right and obligation to supervise work.  

Nor can collective agreements include provisions on matters for which there is separate legislation, such as eligibility criteria or pension benefits. The agreements also do not include provisions on teachers’ work tasks, as they are determined by the legislation and curricula of each education sector. 

Agreement period length subject to negotiation

The length of the agreement period is not standard but also decided in the negotiations.   

Collective agreements are usually concluded for a fixed term and no longer valid after the end of the agreement period. In addition, the collective agreement can be terminated under certain conditions. The aim is for the new collective agreement to come into force immediately after the end of the old one and on better terms than before. 

The end date is important because, even though negotiations are the primary means to resolving agreements, it is always possible that organisational measures are also used, such as overtime bans or even strikes.