No EU membership for Estonia without major changes in working life*

Estonian EU membership poses no serious threat to Finnish labour

Two central trade union organisations in Estonia, one in Latvia, four in Lithuania

Support for the Near-Abroad as well - (Chapter of a report produced in Summer 1998 by the Trade Union Solidarity Center of Finland - SASK)

World class wobbler producer Rapala cuts jobs in Finland, increases in Estonia*

Asikkala (13.10.1998 - Lauri Muranen**) Rapala is transferring its labour intensive production stages from Asikkala in Finland to Estonia. The company currently employs about 60 workers at its Estonian factory in Pärnu. As Rapala's production grows and natural wastage reduces the number of staff in Asikkala, the company is employing more workers in Pärnu.

Production manager Juhani Pehkonen refers to a transfer of 40 jobs within two years as the rate of job reductions in Asikkala and job increases in Pärnu.

"At the moment we have about 240 employees in Asikkala. In two years we shall still have more than 200 jobs." Pehkonen emphasises that the reduction will be based entirely on natural wastage.

He pledges that the Asikkala plant will continue to be the group's main factory. "Nobody has questioned this at any stage."

The most demanding aspects of wobbler production will continue to be concentrated in Asikkala. Semifinished wobblers will be sent for further processing to factories in Estonia and Ireland.

The fate of Rapala jobs in Asikkala has recently been under discussion as the Rapala Group is in the process of becoming a listed company. In its stock market brochure the company says that it is considering redeployment of labour intensive operations in order to increase cost effectiveness.

The factory in Pärnu was opened in January 1997 as labour costs in Estonia are much lower than those in Finland and Ireland.

About a third of the Rapala group's 765 employees work in Asikkala while the rest are abroad. Group turnover in 1997/98 was FIM 577 million (FIM 1.0 = USD 0.2) and its operating profit was FIM 123 million.

The Rapala group has plans to purchase a trollmaking company in Mexico. Elsewhere in Latin America and in Asia the group will increase its marketing efforts and is currently seeking new sales personnel.

* Originally published in Päijät-Häme, the local newspaper of Asikkala, where Rapala has its roots and main factory.

** The writer Lauri Muranen is Editor-in-Chief of Päijät-Häme.

© Lauri Muranen

No EU membership for Estonia without major changes in working life*

Helsinki (21.06.1998 - Irmeli Palmu) The Estonian trade union movement is generally in favour of Estonian membership of the EU. Estonia is one of the six countries which recently began membership negotiations. The others are Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Cyprus.

Since 1995 Raivo Paavo, Chairman of the central trade union organisation EAKL, has been demanding a referendum on membership.

Estonia's trade union movement is struggling with many problems. Union membership is not popular, and only 10 - 20 per cent of employees have joined a union. Pay differentials are huge and it is more a rule than an exception for part of the wage or salary to be paid under the counter.

The minimum wage law guarantees a monthly income of 1,100 Estonian kroons (USD 1.0 = 14 kroons). Chairman Paavo estimates that the average monthly pay is 4,000 kroons (less than 300 US dollars). There is a flat 26 per cent income tax rate, but no social security system. The State pays monthly unemployment compensation of 300 kroons for the six first months of unemployment.

Although the State pays a small pension to older Estonians, there are no public health, accident or unemployment insurance systems. Five trade unions operate unemployment funds.

Preparations for a social security reform are underway. A proposal has been made for a social security tax, which would be shared between pensions and health care. The employees' contribution towards financing the tax would probably be 4 - 5 percentage points. "If we want to be partners in administering social security flows, then we have to define the contribution level of employees. Currently employees make no contribution at all to social security", Raivo Paavo says.

"Tripartite negotiations are unknown here and, according to European Commissioner Padraig Flynn, this is something unacceptable to the EU. The occupational safety norms are far from satisfying. There are plenty of problems seeking quick solutions", Paavo emphasises.

Ulle Schmidt, President of the Union of Health Sector Employees, has conducted studies on attitudes towards Estonian membership of the EU.

"People do not know much about the EU", she says.

"There are many fears surrounding the subject of the EU. People are afraid that rents will not be regulated in the future, as that is the situation in EU countries. A few people think that in EU countries smoking is forbidden in the street and that this prohibition will be applied in Estonia, too."

"Union leaders have a more realistic idea of the EU and mainly have a positive attitude towards Estonian membership."

"A few people believe that the EU is like the Soviet Union and wonder where the sense lies in moving from one international union to another."

Schmidt characterises popular attitudes: "People are tired, they worry about their lives and they are not interested in the importance of democracy. Some believe that all agreements will follow automatically and that there will be nothing more to do once Estonia is a member of the EU".

"Trade unions have given their members some training in EU matters. The most interested have been Russian-speaking metal workers in Tallinn, for whom the Finnish Metalworkers Union has organised courses."

"It is commonly believed in Estonia that EU membership will increase Estonian competitiveness due to better legislation and education. On the other hand, there are worries about the future of industry and the workforce, especially in agriculture."

"The trade union movement is weak and needs the assistance which many Estonians believe will be provided by the EU", Schmidt notes.

*Originally published in Puntari (8-98), the magazine of the Union of Commercial Employees in Finland

Estonian EU membership poses no serious threat to Finnish labour

(21.06.1998) Finland's southern neighbour, Estonia, is seeking to join the European Union and has recently begun negotiations. It is possible that Estonia will become a new Member State around the year 2005. Estonian EU membership poses no serious threat to Finnish labour, concludes Heikki Aintila, a researcher at the ETUI (European Trade Union Institute), who has published the first report of his study "The Eastern Enlargement of the EU and its effects on labour in Finland". On the contrary, opening the border between Finland and Estonia will create some new opportunities for Finnish business and labour. SAK has published an English summary of the Aintila report.

Two central trade union organisations in Estonia, one in Latvia, four in Lithuania

(21.06.1998) There are two central trade union organisations in Estonia. EAKL, which organises both workers and salaried employees, has about 80,000 members. Raivo Paavo has served as chairman of EAKL for the past six years. In 1995 he was elected a Member of Parliament.

TALO concentrates its organising efforts on salaried employees. It has some 50,000 members. TALO is chaired by Toivo Roosimaa.

Latvia's only central trade union organisation, LBAS, has 255,000 members. This central organisation now owns the real estate which belonged to the Latvian trade unions during the Soviet era.

In Lithuania there are four central trade union organisations. These four organisations are keeping their distance and fighting over real estate inherited from the Soviet era trade unions.