Finnish Unions, Employers Approve 2-Year Pact

HELSINKI (AP) -- Finnish trade unions and employers organizations on Monday signed a two-year labor contract that raises wages by some 4.3 percent for more than 2 million people, or 94 percent of the country's working population.

Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen described the deal as "historic," saying that stability in the labor market was crucial in the current European financial crisis, especially for Finland's highly export-dependent economy.