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Home » Palmia employees in food, restaurant, cleaning, property and security services now covered by PAM’s collective agreements
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19.05.2025 15:55

Palmia employees in food, restaurant, cleaning, property and security services now covered by PAM’s collective agreements

As of 1 May 2025, employees working at Palmia Oy and its subsidiary Palmia Palvelut Oy are governed by collective agreements negotiated by PAM. The change applies to employees working in food and restaurant services, property and cleaning services, and security services.

Until the end of April, these Palmia employees were covered by the Avaintes collective agreement. That agreement expired on 30 April 2025, when the employers’ association Avaintyönantajat Avainta ry ceased its operations.

Some companies previously represented by Avainta ry joined the Local Government and County Employers KT and became covered by KT’s new agreement replacing Avaintes.

This was not possible for Palmia, because its ownership transferred from the City of Helsinki to the German private equity firm Mutares in 2023, meaning Palmia cannot be a KT member.

From 1 May 2025, PAM’s collective agreements apply to Palmia employees in food, restaurant, cleaning, property and security services.

Palmia CEO Mika Martola highlights the importance of Finland’s labour market system and its broad range of organised actors.

— PAM is a valuable negotiating partner for us. As a trade union representing private service sectors, they bring industry-specific expertise and view of sector trends. It benefits everyone to have professionals with service sector knowledge on both sides of the negotiating table, he says.

Changes to employment terms

Switching from one collective agreement to another affects employment terms. At Palmia, it has been agreed that the guideline monthly salaries for employees already in service before 1 May 2025 will not be lowered. The new agreements will otherwise affect, for example, working hours and annual holidays.

The company’s current employee representatives will remain in their roles until the end of the year.

— We have negotiated a transition agreement to ensure that familiar employee representatives will support staff during the transition. It is important to us that employees’ voices are heard both now and in the future. We will do our best to ensure strong employee advocacy at Palmia also going forward, says Risto Kalliorinne, PAM’s director of organisation.

Tarja Pietilä, employee representative for Palmia staff in food and restaurant services, cleaning and property services, and security services, says she has received several inquiries about the new collective agreements. Employees have especially asked about the pay systems.

— This transition is unfortunate, but it can’t be helped. I encourage everyone to join the union that negotiated the agreement for their sector. They have the best expertise on the terms of employment and can offer advice when needed.

Employee representative elections this autumn

New employee representatives will be elected at Palmia in the autumn for the next term. There will be separate representatives for restaurant services, property services, and security services. Pietilä hopes that employees will show interest and get involved.

— This is a chance for more people to influence their own working conditions. I’ve found we have good dialogue with management, open communication, and that workers are being heard. You don’t need to know everything right away – there is support available, she says.

Palmia employs around 2,500 people in southern Finland.

Text: Minna Raitapuro

Do you work at Palmia?

The switch to a new collective agreement may cause uncertainty and questions. But there is no need to worry – we at PAM are here for you.

Info sessions – come join us!

  • PAM will be introduced at Palmia’s staff info session on 26 May at 14:00–14:30 on Teams.
  • A collective agreement info session for Palmia employees will be held on 4 June at 16:00 on Teams. Participation instructions will be sent by email.
More information for Palmia employees here

Keywords:

collective agreement hotel and restaurant industry private security property services sector

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