Finland - Unions criticize state productivity scheme - June 21, 2010

Public services union JHL and other unions in the state sector have called for the state productivity scheme to be abandoned. The scheme was set up in 2003 and initially had trade union support in that its aim was to increase productivity in response to the need to adjust to the ageing of the workforce. However, now the unions argue that the scheme is focusing on cutting jobs and even quote management consultant reports that claim that job cuts can undermine public sector productivity. For instance, a PricewaterhouseCooper’s report evaluating the scheme also argued that reducing personnel does not necessarily improve productivity.

English: http://www.jhl.fi/portal/en/news/archive/?bid=217

This article was published in the Collective Bargaining Newsletter. It aims to facilitate information exchange between trade unions and to support the work of ETUC's collective bargaining committee. For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI atwww.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2009.