Helsinki (23.09.2014 - Heikki Jokinen)

The Electrical Workers' Union took a case to the Labour Court where both the shop steward and industrial safety delegate of a company were demoted to lower income work.

They had been working on piecework pay but the employer decided that from now they should be on time rate pay.

And at the same time the company was trying to force employees to accept piecework at lower rates of pay. Employee representatives were made to suffer personally for defending the rights of the workers.

The Labour Court ruled that it was legitimate to refuse piecework because it fell outside the collective agreement. For this reason the refusal of the shop steward and industrial safety delegate to work for lower piecework pay was deemed legitimate.

The Court also ruled that acting as a workers' representative should not be an obstacle to the development or advancement in the professional career.

“The decision of Labour Court is a clear message to employers”, says Jari Ollila, who is responsible for collective bargaining in the Electrical Workers' Union. “Mistreating employee representatives will have consequences.”

“The most important thing in the decision is, however, that we are giving a clear message to every shop steward and industrial safety delegate out there. We are determined to defend our own and will involve ourselves in every case where employees' representatives are mistreated”, Ollila say.

Shop steward fired illegaly

The Metalworkers' Union took a case to the Labour Court when a shop steward was fired. His employer had to temporarily lay-off the whole staff due to a fire. During this time the shop steward, who is a welder, took a temporary job in another company.
 
The employer claims that the welder was dismissed for breaching the 'non compete' clause which prevents an employee from working for a competitor. The Labour Court did not accept this explanation.

According to the Court the man had a right to seek other employment during the temporary lay-off and was not privy to any professional secrets or special skills that would have caused harm to the employer.

The Court awarded 11 months salary to the shop steward amounting to 21,000 euro. The company also has to pay him a further 12,800 euro in compensation. They also must cover the 6,700 euro court expenses of the Metalworkers' Union.