The UJF and Akava Special Branches have decided not to terminate the collective agreement of audiovisual translation companies. The collective agreement was reached only in February this year at the offices of the National Conciliator. It will continue to remain in force as none of the contracting translation companies had terminated it by the end of November. The agreement will continue until the end of January 2021. “Last winter, our main goal in the round of negotiations on the agreement was to agree on the wages of the self-employed who are dependent on an employer. The National Conciliator addressed this to the legislature. The issue is being worked on, in accordance with the government programme, but is still in the early stages. For AV translators, this is still a key issue to be reformed, and at this stage it was not seen as possible to promote it through negotiation,” says Petri Savolainen, UJF head of advocacy. “‘The collective agreement of AV translation companies does not include additional working hours related to the ‘Competitiveness Pact,’ which would need to be negotiated at the same time as being a stumbling block at multi-sectoral negotiating tables," explains Helena Lamponen, lobbying manager at Akava's Special Branches. The Competitiveness Pact was introduced in 2016 in an effort to increase annual working time by 24 hours, thereby making business more competitive by reducing the cost of labour. Further information: Petri Savolainen, head of advocacy, UJF, tel. +358 50 534 24 85 Helena Lamponen, lobbying manager, Akava Special Branches, tel. +358 201 235 352