European Federation of Journalists

Finnish Union Reaches Agreement after Tough Negotiations


The Journalists’ Union of Finland has concluded a new collective agreement for around 4500 journalists and media workers in the print media and news agencies in the country.

‘‘I congratulate our affiliate on the successful negotiation of the new collective agreement under the challenging environment,’’ said Ricardo Gutierrez, EFJ General Secretary.

The new agreement reached on 1 October will cover journalists working for online news website and media which was challenged by the employers. Although the union has made a small victory for the salary of journalists by achieving a moderate increase of 1.34% after 26 months, the union has successfully rejected the proposal to reduce the number of holidays for journalists. It has also made the employers to recognise the need of local shop stewards at a time when media organisations are merging due to concentration of ownership. The agreement ensures that the number of shop stewards in local media will not be reduced.

For more information, please contact Juha Rekola.