News / 31.08.2015

UJF calls on Sanoma Media to show social responsibility

The media corporation Sanoma is starting ‘co-determination’ negotiations with its workforce aimed at saving the company €50 million. The negotiations could lead to as many as 280 redundancies.

“The company has had two large sets of co-determination negotiations in the last two years,” said UJF president Hanne Aho. “In January 2014 editorial staff at Helsingin Sanomat, Channel Four and Metro were cut by 37 workers, and in October that year 23 journalists were fired from Sanoma magazines. The situation among editorial staff is extremely tight.”

The UJF president said that people are entitled to require that large companies show social responsibility. They should comply with ‘change security’ rules to ensure that employees can look for new work when they are under notice of dismissal. 

“Sanoma is now in a position to show how a good employer handles redundancies,” said Aho.

The Radio and Television Journalists Union, affiliated to the UJF, said n a statement that the projected savings sought by Sanoma put it among those media houses that reap profits off the backs of their employees.

The union said that owners of profitable companies must bear greater responsibility for decision-making that has turned out to be wrong. Media companies’ employees are now being forced to pay for management’s mistakes, said the union.

Sanoma’s operating profits for the second quarter of this year were €49 million.

 


See also

All news

UJF membership fees to remain unchanged next year – freelance employee fees restructured

Freelance employees’ membership fees will undergo a restructuring from the start of next year. From 1 January 2025, the membership fee will be a fixed rate of €39 per month.

UJF prioritises key areas for 2025: collective bargaining agreements, freelance work, negotiation support, new copyright strategy

The UJF has set out its main advocacy priorities for the coming year, focusing on collective bargaining, discussions on working conditions for freelancers and support for union representatives and employees at Yle (the Finnish Broadcasting Company) during organisational changes.

UJF donates an additional €5,000 to Ukrainian journalists

The money will be used to buy protective equipment, internet connections and generators for journalists working in the region.