Strike at Tampere University on Wednesday 7 May

The staff of Tampere University went on strike for salary increases and the preservation of teaching hour caps. The 24-hour strike began on Wednesday, 7 May at 00:01 and ends at 23:59.

“Our staff has worked tremendously hard in recent years, often under very difficult conditions, for the benefit of the university and the entire society. We believe we have earned salary increases in line with the general level,” emphasizes Mika Mattila, the strike manager from Tampere University.

The consequences of removing the hourly cap for contact teaching from the collective agreement are concerning.

Teaching hour caps are an essential and important protective mechanism written into the collective agreement, which protects teaching and research staff from being overburdened at work. The Finnish Education Employers (Sivista), representing university employers, is pushing for their removal.

“This would lead to an increase in the workload for teaching staff, who are already working at the limits of their endurance to perform their duties well.”

The strike serves as a reminder that the university is its staff, and that the quality of teaching and research, as well as the well-being and salary levels of employees, must be safeguarded.

Negotiations on the collective agreement for the 35,000 university employees have been ongoing since early February. In mid-April, the labour dispute was referred to the National Conciliator. So far, no solution has been reached. The conciliation continues on Thursday, 8 May, and Friday, 9 May.

Strikes in the university sector are rare. The last time university staff went on strike was seven years ago at the University of Helsinki.