Huh??
From Helsingin Sanomat International Edition in an article titled, “Trade unions have few means to increase employment “…
“I think it is great that there is qualified staff in Finnish restaurants, compared to the U.S. where there are people working part-time with small wages who do not know at all how to do the job”, Mäenpää muses.
Huh? First off, I’d reckon U.S. restaurant employees earn much much more than their Finnish counterparts. Americans dine out more often and thanks to tips, waiters and waitresses make very nice salaries. Back in the states, many of my friends were waiters, they took home way to much cash for the little bit of work they did. The restaurant industry in the U.S. is great because people without even a high school education can easily earn $40K/year and upwards.
And calling them “unqualified”?? C’mon, it’s waiting tables, cleaning tables, seating patrons…how much qualifications are there? Of course the chefs and managers need to be qualified, but I doubt Finnish employees are any more or less qualified than in the U.S.
In spite of the (much) higher education people have in Finland when they hold a certain job, compared to others with the same job in other countries, I am very, very often almost appalled by the level of their professional skills. I am not talking about lack of giving good service. Service seems to have a different meaning here, but about knowledge. I completely agree with what Phil wote here. It’s also how it’s done in central Europe, not only in the US.
Comment by Majava — Thu, Mar 31st, 2005 @ 11:47 am
I give you a little “trade union solidarity”. The Finnish Seamen’s Union came into agreement with the Hanko ferries about Polish sailors and their working conditions. End result: Finnish seamen were hired and the Poles got all sacked.
Oh, and the Swedish builders’ union opposed Latvian costruction workers being hired to Sweden. They want “same conditions”. The Latvians weren’t complaining getting 3x the money than home (and work).
The unions are useless if you have any problem yourself, they only gather money to politics.
Comment by Hank W. — Thu, Mar 31st, 2005 @ 11:56 am
I read the article and was also quite disappointed that the Union leaders lack any vision, but excel in political bla bla (nice that HS also noticed!)
Comment by Majava — Thu, Mar 31st, 2005 @ 12:03 pm
What were they working inside the beltway at upscale restaurants or something? As a bartender I got paid $1.50 an hour plus tips which were good, but not to the tune of $40k good. Besides, on the east coast, $40k, which I doubt many waiters make, is still pretty damn little in the US. And I’d like to see how you’d refer to the ‘little bit’ of work they do after being on your feet running around for 8 hours instead of sitting in a chair surfing the net all day. On a busy night, it can be exhausting work and being able to remember 20 drink orders all being shouted at you by drunken dorks isn’t for idiots either.
Comment by hfb — Thu, Mar 31st, 2005 @ 2:08 pm
Dang, I make less than 40K a year. I think one of the reasons that waiters make more money in the US is because of tipping. Gratuity used to be a standard 10% of the bill. Now it is almost expected that you shell out 20% of the bill towards the tip. The total incompetence I experience on a near-daily basis makes me hate the whole idea of tipping. I’m in a service job and I don’t get tips!
Comment by Jenny Cappe — Thu, Mar 31st, 2005 @ 2:45 pm
$40k/year ain’t “little” unless maybe your’e in Manhattan. And no, these guys weren’t working at no upscale restaurants - those guys make much more than $40k/year. Waiters were getting paid some $2.20/hr + tips and that was cash in hand, you are supposed to declare that in your taxes but NO ONE does (unless you got tipped via credit card), so that ups your salary even more.
But you are right, they do work hard, I shouldn’t belittle a waiter’s job.
Comment by Phil — Thu, Mar 31st, 2005 @ 3:10 pm
“I shouldn???t belittle a waiter???s job.”
Because you never know who is going to spit in your food!
Comment by Jenny Cappe — Thu, Mar 31st, 2005 @ 3:15 pm
I’ve worked as a waiter in Finland and the minimum wage is around 8??¬/hour (no tips of course). So $2.20/hour doesn’t sound like that much. They must get a hell of a lot of tips… And yes, being a waiter is really hard work. On your feet all the day, running around, can be very exhausting.
Comment by hobbes — Thu, Mar 31st, 2005 @ 5:11 pm
I just have to wonder in which places this M?¤enp?¤?¤ frequents to.
In my experience, if there’s one BIG difference when comparing Finland and the U.S (ok, I’ve only been to california and very briefly in Philadelphia but I know quite a lot of americans), it’s that in Finland, the service culture is in it’s infancy. Most of the time, finnish restaurant staff is awkward and unfriendly to the point of aggressiveness. Prices are too high in general (ok, not just the restaurants) and there’s only a handful of places where you can talk about atmosphere.
For the same price, I bet I can get three times better service in the U.S or, in general, most places not run by finns. In finland, the best places are run by people from outside finland.
Comment by joker@iki.fi — Thu, Mar 31st, 2005 @ 6:29 pm
One also has to remember the social costs for the employer in Finland. For the 8??¬ salary the employer has to cough up 15-16??¬ => also have to remember the employee gets after taxes 6,30??¬ in hand.
So theres one staff member in Finland - that has to know a shitload of “unnecessary” stuff - besides their job. A job where theres 10 people to do it and a variety of managers.
This is a societal problem - the state wants the social fees + taxes paid so tips are regulated. i don’t know if anyone remembers, but there used to be “palvelurahapalkkainen” category of waiters. They had a % of sales; but that was hideous. You couldn’t go to the bar to get a drink and then sit down - someone would come yelling at you (the seats were reserved for “paying” customers). And you couldn’t change to a different table without asking the waiter to take your drink and move it to the other table…
So better service without tips.
Comment by Hank W. — Thu, Mar 31st, 2005 @ 9:06 pm
Your comment leads me to kinda go off track, Hank… but I gotta.
Why is narikka use still compulsory in many places here in Finland? I mean if I want to wear my coat, I’ll wear my friggin coat inside. Even though I’ve been here a long time, I still hate narikka. :-/
Comment by SUPERinfer — Fri, Apr 1st, 2005 @ 12:37 pm
because you can too easily hide your taskumatti inside the coat .. (and of course also because many of the narikka-apinat get to keep theis narikkamaksu)
Comment by Lauri — Fri, Apr 1st, 2005 @ 1:26 pm
I was on vacation in Miami Beach just in December and enjoyed very much all the nice restaurants there, such as the China Grill, Tuscan Steak and Smith & Wollensky.
I also eat out quite in Finland, and based on my experiences I’d say you get better service in the U.S. than in Finland. I don’t about salaries.
What I liked in the U.S. was that waiters and waitresses were motivated to do their job well, because their tips depend on that.
Comment by Tero Lehto — Sat, Apr 2nd, 2005 @ 1:42 pm
Oh, sorry for my typos. I meant to write I also eat in restaurants quite often in Finland, and I don’t know about these salaries in Finland.
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