Teachers at universities of applied sciences extend strike over disputed pay supplement

Teachers at six Finnish universities of applied sciences continued their strike on Wednesday, with the dispute centred on a pay supplement for teachers in technology and transport, Yle reported.

The second three-day strike involves Lapland University of Applied Sciences, Oulu University of Applied Sciences, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, Savonia University of Applied Sciences, LAB University of Applied Sciences and Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. The institutions have campuses in several locations.

The availability supplement is paid to teachers in technology and transport studies and can be worth up to 1,000 euros a month. The difference in pay compared with other teachers can be almost as large.

The OAJ trade union says removing the supplement would reduce some teachers’ incomes. It is calling instead for the salaries of teachers who do not receive the supplement to be raised towards the level of those who do.

“The employer wants to remove the supplement and distribute it as it sees fit. We will not accept a pay cut,” OAJ chair Katariina Murto said.

About 20 OAJ members took part in a strike walk in Rovaniemi on Wednesday. Ulla Kangasniemi, a shop steward for teaching staff at Lapland University of Applied Sciences, said the participants shared the view that no one’s salary should be reduced.

“We trust OAJ, which is trying to harmonise our salaries upwards,” she said.

Ari Romakkaniemi, a construction engineering teacher at Lapland University of Applied Sciences, said removing the supplement could threaten the future availability of workers in the field. “The employer is proposing significant cuts to working conditions for us in technology and transport,” he said.

Sivista, which represents private employers in the sector, says it has not sought to reduce salaries. Its labour market director, Hanne Salonen, said the employers’ side would have accepted a settlement proposal under which no one’s salary would have fallen and everyone would have received an increase.

Salonen said the supplement could continue to be based partly on labour availability, but that all teachers should have the same criteria for determining their pay. She described the current system as a decades-old arrangement that automatically grants a fixed supplement to one group, even though labour availability varies between fields, institutions and periods.

“We consider this an unfair and outdated system, and it needs to be changed,” Salonen said.