Equal pay through collective bargaining? Experiences from Finland

Collective bargaining has traditionally been thought to be gender neutral. When the apparently gender-neutral surface of the agreements and their application has been investigated more closely, however, this notion has shattered. Finland is one of the European countries in which it is common for women to work. Approximately one half of the labour force consists of women. Despite the fact that the educational level of women already exceeds that of men, the difference in their wages is still significant. Most workers fall within the sphere of collective agreements and most are also members of employee or trade unions, women even more so than men. However, more men than women hold leading positions in unions and work as principal negotiators for unions. Female negotiators have emphasised gender equality more than their male counterparts. Comprehensive incomes policy agreements have been part of Finland's working life for nearly three decades. Such agreements restrain the growth in the division of wages in society. In the 1990s, elements supporting gender equality were openly included in these agreements, and equality supplements were incorporated. According to statistics, it seems that the differences in wages between the genders have slightly decreased during the preceding decade. Together the economic recession, comprehensive incomes policy agreements and perhaps also the equality supplements have made this change possible. Gender equality can be considered to have been established as part of the negotiations of the confederations of unions, and it has gained a legitimate position as part of the negotiation agenda.