Facts about the university labor dispute

How have the negotiations progressed? 

• Negotiations between FEE, representing universities, and JUKO, Pro, and JHL, representing employees, started on the 31st of January 2025. 

• The trade unions broke off the negotiations and announced a strike at Tampere University on the 22nd of April. The strike took place at Tampere University on the 7th of April. As a countermeasure, FEE announced the suspension of union membership fees as of the 1st of May. 

• The labor dispute has been mediated since 24th of April under the guidance of the National Conciliator Anu Sajavaara. 

What is the reason for the university labor dispute? 

• When it comes to salaries, FEE has offered employees a level of increase in line with the so-called ‘general line’, i.e. a total increase of 7.8% over three years. What is still yet to be agreed upon is how much of the increase will be distributed as a general increase for all employees and how much will be distributed locally e.g. based on work performance. 

• The dispute has culminated in contact teaching hours mentioned in the collective agreement. Contact teaching is not the same thing as all teaching-related tasks. Measuring teaching by contact hours alone leaves out a lot of other types of teaching and teaching-related tasks. 

• FEE’s aim is not to remove the clause protecting against excessive workload but to create a new model that better reflects the teaching work done in universities.

• In other words, universities do not aim to increase the teaching and research workload. Nor is there any intention to increase full-time working hours. 

• The intention of the possible new model is to change the way universities plan their work. Currently, the collective agreement clause suggests that only contact teaching would affect the workload of university employees.  

• So far, the trade unions have not shown any willingness to update the collective agreement clause about contact teaching.