A joint forum for international issues

The three Finnish trade union central federations, SAK, STTK and AKAVA, are currently considering the establishment of a joint forum for international issues, whilst any plans for a merger of the three organisations have been shelved for the time being.

The Finnish trade union central federations have a tradition of working in close cooperation on a national level in matters of pay bargaining and in the general representation of the interests of the working people, and they have jointly participated in a variety of international trade union activities over a long period of time. Proposals for the merger of either all three, or only two, of these umbrella organisations surface from time to time. The amalgamation of some of the operations of the central federations was once again put forward during the recent STTK congress. Some delegates developed this idea even further and were looking for a merger into a single central organisation.

The merger proposal is not regarded as realistic by any of the presidents of the three central federations. Mr Risto Piekka, the President of AKAVA, the Confederation of Unions for Academic Professionals in Finland, considers that talk of a merger should be abandoned and emphasis should be placed upon the further development of cooperation between the three federations.

"In my view, three central federations form an optimum number. If a merger does take place and the result is two central federations, AKAVA will be one of them," Mr Piekka emphasises. In a similar vein, Mr Mikko Mäenpää, the President of STTK, the Finnish Confederation of Salaried Employees, prefers to bring a halt to the merger debate, at least for the time being, and concentrate on developing further the existing close cooperation between the three.

"I proposed, at the recent STTK Congress, that the three central federations establish a joint working group which would draw up a joint policy document for future cooperation. As I see it, this should be focused on the cooperation of the central federations in the areas of regional activities, international issues and in the communication of information. The working group could also draft preliminary outlines for a future bargaining system", says Mr Mäenpää.

The SAK President, Mr Lauri Ihalainen, welcomes this proposal, as in his view increased cooperation is a fully realistic goal.

"We must wait and see what is produced by closer cooperation. A merger of the central federations is not a bad idea as an aim for the future, but at present it would be more realistic to concentrate on further developing the existing cooperation between the federations and perhaps amalgamating some of our activities", he says.

Joint participation in international affairs

In his list of issues which the central trade union federations could deal with on a joint basis, Mr Ihalainen gives priority to the development of activities in the international field, particularly as the Finnish trade union movement already presents a rather unified front in the international arena.

"I find the thought of the three central federations sharing a forum for international affairs to be quite inspiring. Such a forum should meet regularly and thus it could draw up joint guidelines", Mr Ihalainen says.

Mr Mikko Mäenpää of STTK supports this idea. "A joint forum or committee, which would also be attended by the Presidents of the federations, could consider joint policies on Nordic issues, on development cooperation with the countries in the area of the former Soviet Union, and on the issues of both the ETUC and the ICFTU", says Mr Mäenpää.

Neither has AKAVA dismissed the idea of a joint forum. The AKAVA President, Mr Risto Piekka, is of the opinion that it is important to establish closer relationships between the joint Finnish trade union bureau in Brussels and the various trade union delegates on the Economic and Social Committee, on which all three central federations are represented.

"Our methods of influencing EU issues at a national level also need to be improved", Mr Piekka says. Mr Ihalainen adds that the international representation of the interests of the working people does not take place solely in Brussels, decisions being frequently made in Finland on a variety of subjects and therefore the methods of bringing influence to bear require further tuning.

"We should also think about sharing the work, in order to ensure that we do not all attend the same meetings. We should learn to trust the capabilities of the representatives of the other federations, to represent the trade union movement as a whole. If we can achieve this, we will save our resources which are in any case limited", Mr Ihalainen says.

Workers benefit from cooperation

The hitherto unified front of the workers, concerning national bargaining policy, has recently become divided over some major issues. During last winter, AKAVA decided to remain outside the centralised incomes policy agreement which was negotiated on a national level, for the reason that some of its member groups were demanding that they were awarded higher pay rises than those which were offered to some other groups of workers. The central federations have only recently managed to agree upon pension rights and unemployment benefits, which have been slowly negotiated over a long period of time. In this negotiating process, opinions within the trade union movement became divided. Nevertheless, an agreement was finally achieved. The Presidents of the three central federations do not accept the claim that the relationships between these federations are now poorer than they have been for a long time. Mr Ihalainen recalls the fact that the Finnish trade union movement has a long and honourable history, and it will not be affected by a single, less fortunate bargaining round.

"Cooperation is the prerequisite for any successful operation by the unions. Problems are bound to surface, now and then, because there are differences both of opinion and in the emphasis which is laid on the different areas of the respective policies of pay, social welfare and taxation. Skill is required in order to bring the different viewpoints together and to present them jointly, and in a convincing manner, to the employers and to the state authorities. The relationships between the three central trade union federations are not becoming sour or neglected, in fact quite the contrary. The requirements of today are driving us into a closer degree of cooperation than ever before. Our future success will be based on this", emphasised Mr Ihalainen.

Neither does Mr Mäenpää of STTK see any cracks in the willingness to maintain cooperation between the three, although he accepts that there have recently been differences of opinion. "The fact is, that if we want to hold a strong position of influence in Finnish society, and further develop the world of work, we must realise that further centralised national incomes policy agreements will be concluded and that should they wish to safeguard the interests of their members, none of the federations can opt out ", insists Mr Mäenpää.

The President of AKAVA, Mr Risto Piekka, also feels that the need for cooperation is growing rather than diminishing. "We should now start looking for joint goals for the development of the bargaining system and for the next governmental agenda. The pay bargaining rounds will once again commence in some twelve months time, and we should be together in starting to prepare for these", Mr Piekka says.

leena.seretin@vegapress.inet.fi
SAK info magazine 4/2001