Nurses union Tehy reported in its members’ magazine on Thursday that the City of Helsinki had agreed a deal with three large private healthcare providers to prevent them poaching municipal nursing staff.
Tehy chair Millariikka Rytkönen told Yle that the union started to investigate after receiving tip-offs from members.
“We got emails that members had received from senior figures at the three firms, stating that we would recruit you, you could be a very suitable applicant, but unfortunately they can’t because there is an agreement in force with the City of Helsinki,” Rytkönen said.
Tehy has filed a complaint with the parliamentary ombudsman over the matter and will seek compensation for members affected.
The union says that Helsinki is guilty of discrimination, which is prohibited in the Finnish constitution, and preventing workers from making a living in the way they see fit.
Helsinki’s Deputy Mayor for social and healthcare, Daniel Sazonov (NCP), denied the allegations.
“In my view the allegation that Helsinki is part of a cartel is senseless,” said Sazonov, who did however admit that some contracts include clauses that restrict hiring practices.
“Helsinki makes contracts to buy services and individual contracts could be such that employers cannot offer jobs providing that specific service to staff employed by the city,” said Sazonov.
Rytkönen said she had gotten huge feedback from members over the case.
“On the basis of that it looks like these three firms are not the only ones involved, and it also looks like this model is in broader use throughout Finland,” said Rytkönen. “At this stage I don’t want to give more details, because we want to be sure of the facts first.”
Yle has asked for the emails on which Tehy is basing its claims, but the union has so far refused to give them to outsiders.
The news was reported first by Helsingin Sanomat and MTV on Thursday.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.