Meeting 19 February, the UJF Council approved the collective agreement for the press, negotiated the previous week by the union and Finnmedia. The agreement means that the requirement that employees work extra hours, under the terms of the Competitiveness Pact, will be overturned. The Christmas holiday break entitlement will be restored, other holiday entitlements will remain intact, and pay will increase. Finnmedia has also approved the agreement. “In all the new collective agreements, the Competitive Pact extra hours will be compensated for in some respect. For us, that means 7,5 hours of paid training included in the agreement,” said UJF president Hanne Aho. “Also, extending the agreement from 25 to 28 months also helped bring it about.” Aho said that it was good that the employer’s side agreed to include paid training in the agreement to compensate the Competitiveness Pact hours. The union has received numerous messages from members stressing the need for training. “Now there’s the best chance for this.” The union president said that the concession to employers of extending the pay increase period by three months was a small price to pay for stopping the unpaid work of the Competitiveness Pact and retaining holiday entitlements. The union also sought as high general pay increases as possible and pay scale salary increases. The general increase increases the pay of all employees, pay scale salaries too, especially the lowest pay levels. “Maximum increases to pay scale salaries were achieved and the general increase was the highest in the round of negotiations,” Aho explained. Collective agreement for the press basics: The agreement is valid until 31 May 2022 (28 months). Holiday entitlements remain unchanged. The extra hours of the Competitiveness Pact will be eliminated, and the Christmas holiday break will be restored. From 1 June 2020 increases in individual pay, pay scale salary increases, and shift allowances by 1.3%. From 1 May 2021 increases in individual pay by 1.4%, local instalment is 0,6%. If there is disagreement over the distribution of the local instalment, 0.3% shall be disbursed in the form of a general increase and the employer shall decide on the allocation of 0.3%. Pay scale salaries and shift allowances will increase by 2%. The employer is entitled to arrange 7.5 hours of paid training per year on top of current working hours. Avainsanat: TES-asia