Tehy continues to consider passing the law to be a mistake that will steer Finland far off the path that is in alignment with the principles and ideals of a free democracy governed by the rule of law.
Near the finish line of Parliament processing, however, the Employment and Economy Committee and Constitutional Law Committee joined Tehy in its view that it is the duty of the National Conciliator to promote pay equality between genders, and that the National Conciliator’s hands cannot be tied to the ‘general policy’, thereby abandoning the promotion of equality.
Prime Minister Petter Orpo’s Government has been painstakingly pushing a statutory pay gap for female-dominated low-pay sectors in defiance of Finland’s international obligations, among other things. In the justifications of its legislative proposal, the Government has wholly neglected the fact that it is specifically threatening the pay increase opportunities of nurses, even though the employee side has persistently demanded the ministries to consider these issues during the preparation process.
The state of legislative drafting in Finland is truly alarming when such untenable proposals that neglect equality are even permitted to be presented to Parliament. This also sparked within Tehy a need to strongly highlight the discrepancies of the Orpo Government’s legislative proposal.
This is why the clear stance on pay equality, presented at the final stages by Parliament’s committees, is extremely important from the perspective of low-pay sectors. Tehy President Millariikka Rytkönen appreciates the fact that Parliament’s authoritative committees stopped the Government from widening the pay gap.
– The committees brought common sense back to the project and took into account Tehy’s long-standing demand of saving pay equality. The promotion of pay equality is a massive value-related victory for female-dominated low-pay sectors, Rytkönen says.
In their statements, both committees emphasised the significance of pay equality enough that the conciliator simply cannot ignore it. The entire time, Tehy has been saying that enabling pay equality through conciliation is a more important value than the ‘overall benefit of the national economy’, which has been vaguely promoted by the Government.
– Now, this has also been acknowledged by the Members of Parliament in the committees. This is a wonderful Christmas present from the committees, especially to female-dominated and low-pay sectors. We can now say that if, in the context of labour conflicts, a current or future conciliator decides to follow the original legislative proposal, this is contrary to the aim of the legislature, Rytkönen says.
Enquiries: Tehy specialist, Master of Laws with court training Jarkko Pehkonen, [email protected], tel. +358 40 531 5464.
Read also Tehy´s bulletin 3.10.2024 "Parliament must save female-dominated sectors from permanent pay gap"