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The Committee notes the information provided in the Government's report, including the summary of the comments made by the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers (TT), the Employers' Confederation of Service Industries in Finland (Palvelutyönantajat) and the Finnish Confederation of Salaried Employees (STTK).

The Committee notes with satisfaction from the comments made by the TT and the Palvelutyönantajat that the last remaining requirements for Finnish citizenship were removed from sectoral agreements concerning the eligibility for the position of shop steward in the negotiations on collective agreements in spring 2000. The SAK reports that the citizenship restriction, which remained in force during the previous report period, has now been removed from the shop steward agreement for the hotel and catering industry. The Committee further notes with interest that the citizenship restriction for shop stewards has also been removed from the 1997 general agreement between the SAK and the TT and has been removed from the 1995 central shop steward agreement between the SAK and the Palvelutyönantajat. None of the other agreements mentioned in the report contain any limitations on the citizenship of shop stewards