Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1989, published 76th ILC session (1989)

Further to its previous observations, the Committee has noted the information supplied by the Government. It has also noted the comments of the Finnish Employers' Confederation (STK), the Employers' Confederation of Service Industries (LTK) and the Commission for Local Authority Employers (KT), concerning the ways in which representatives of the persons affected by measures of employment policy (especially the 1987 Employment Act) should be consulted in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention. The Confederation of Salaried Employees (TVK), as well as the STK and the LTK, considers that priority should be given to the development of the employment service (including the training of its staff). The KT wishes to be consulted in the labour administration advisory bodies (including the tripartite Employment Council) in its capacity as an employers' organisation. The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) states that labour policy measures are not enough in the task of promoting mobility of labour, whilst economic sanctions might conflict with the principle of voluntariness; it stresses the need for measures of housing policy in this context. The SAK also feels that the slight decrease in unemployment may be short-lived.

The Committee notes that the level of unemployment in Finland (5.1 per cent in 1987) continues to compare well with that of other OECD countries. In the light of the Convention's goals, it has noted with interest the measures provided in the 1987 Employment Act and Employment Ordinance, which aim at improving labour market operation and training - especially for the young unemployed - and correcting regional imbalances, in order to achieve full employment. It trusts that the need to apply these measures as a means of promoting the goals of the Convention will be given full weight in the context of overall economic policies (in the field of investment, fiscal and monetary affairs, trade and prices, incomes and wages), and that the next report will include information on the way in which these measures are implemented, taking all due account of the views of employers and workers and representatives of other persons affected.