The Union of Journalists in Finland (UJF) and the Akava Special Branches (ASB) have issued a strike notice by audiovisual translators regarding the failure of talks on a new collective bargaining agreement. According to the unions, the biggest the main point of difference are the fees paid to self-employed translators that the employers do not want to include in the collective bargainining agreement. According to Petri Savolainen from UJF, 80% of translators cannot influence the prices of translation. Helena Lampinen from ASB further notes that the disagreement concerns more widely the position of self-employed that are dependent on their clients, namely virtual or sham entrepreneurs, and their part in collective bargaining. The strike notice is the first of its kind, namely issued by the self-employed, in Finland.
As couriers working mostly under freelance agreements, we fully support the demands by the AV-translators and their possible strike action. Like the AV-translators and the unions note, the disagreement concerns all the self-employed, freelancers and sham entrepreneurs dependent on their client companies. Bringing the fees paid to the self-employed within collective bargaining agreements would is important to secure the livelihoods of the self-emplyoed and prevents for its part the circumvention of employer responsibilities and the deflation of the price of work through freelance contracts.
We support the demands by AV-translators, because also in the transport sector there are numerous car and bicycle couriers working as sham entrepreneurs dependent on the companies for their income. As we have noted in our campaign, the problem concerns not only couriers or translators, but the self-employed working in several sectors and ultimately is a question of how and under what conditions is work in our society done and how are workers granted their minimum security.
