The private teaching sector employs approximately 24,000 persons. The collective agreement in the sector is universally binding and covers private general education institutions, vocational schools, music schools, adult education centres and universities of applied sciences. The contracting parties in the sector are Finnish Education Employers (FEE) representing the employers and the trade unions JHL, Jyty and OAJ representing the employees.
Approximately 2,000 YTN (Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff) affiliate members work in various expert and managerial positions, for example, in financial management, communications, research and project work. As the situation currently stands, YTN is not a contracting party, but we want to improve the advocacy and working conditions of our members in the sector in the future. The private teaching sector operations started in August 2022.
The development of contract operations in the sector
A few years ago, universities of applied sciences changed their employer union from AVAINTA to Finnish Education Employers. At that time, the YTN affiliate members working at universities of applied sciences were covered by the collective agreement AVAINTES negotiated by another Akava negotiation organisation, JUKO. However, with the change of employer union, JUKO is no longer a party to the current agreement. From the employees’ side, OAJ, JHL and Jyty were already the contracting parties to the collective agreement for the private teaching sector.
YTN affiliate members working in the private teaching sector do not have employee representatives (chief shop stewards or shop stewards) based on collective agreements. We aim to become a contracting party to the collective agreement in the sector, so that the working conditions of all highly skilled employees working in the sector can be developed on an equal footing. For this reason, the Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff has actively investigated the situation in the sector and established its own agreement sector.
Who are the YTN affiliate members working in the sector?
Our members work in universities of applied sciences in teaching, administration and support services. Their work is characterised by independence, responsibility, expert skills and a higher education degree. The largest member groups in the private teaching sector are graduate engineers, economists, members of Akava Special Brances, engineers, members of the Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers (FUURT) and Bachelors of Business Administration. Our group also includes social science professionals, lawyers, psychologists and the members of Loimu and Finnish Association of Academic Agronomists.
Get involved in activities in the sector!
Our goal is to get official employee representatives to work in the sector, so that, for example, in cooperation and local agreements, the voices of YTN affiliate members can also be heard. At the same time, the flow of information will become more efficient and members will have the opportunity to participate more actively in the development of their working conditions. In case of possible disputes, the employee representatives will also be there to support the members.
If you are interested in improving the operations and working conditions of your workplace, please do not hesitate to contact us!