Service Union United (PAM) chair Ann Selin says she is not convinced by Prime Minister Juha Sipilä's promises made Saturday to cancel additional austerity measures and lighten taxation if an accord between government and labour organisations is reached.
"At this stage that just doesn't cut it," Selin says. "The announcement he made is not exact enough to help up move forward. We need a clearer picture of what the Prime Minister wants and what the government would actually be willing to get behind before I consider convening the board."
Selin says that tax relief would be of special import to the industries under the PAM umbrella. She refers to the possibility that an alleviated tax percentage could improve the purchasing power of service industry companies and ordinary citizens – in effect reviving the domestic market.
Mistrust abounds
The government has earlier stated that if it accepts the proposed "competitiveness contract", it will in turn cancel 1.5 billion euros in planned budget cuts and tax hikes. It also pledged to make good on one billion euros in income tax reductions.
Selin says the government now needs to make it clear that it will dedicate itself to making good on the trade-off. Once an announcement with specifics is made, PAM would be able to consider its position again. Selin says that there is a great deal of mistrust towards the government at present about whether it will uphold its part of the bargain.
Meanwhile, Lauri Lyly, chair of the country's largest trade union federation SAK said Prime Minister Sipilä's Saturday conciliations were the clearest indication yet that the government thinks the competitiveness contract would be sufficient to go ahead with the relief measures.
PAM is a service trade union representing 230,000 people who work in retail trade, property services, security services and the hospitality industry. Close to 80 percent of PAM members are women.
