17th SAK delegate conference, Helsinki 5–7 June 2006:

For skills and fairness in Finland

The 17th Congress of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions - SAK will be held in the conference suite of Helsinki Fair Centre on 5 - 7 June. At its Congress SAK will revise its programme objectives and operating modes, and examine the future challenges of the trade union movement. The theme of the Congress will be "A Movement for Change". 275 delegates from the member trade unions of SAK will attend this three-day event.

The main working document of the 17th Congress will be &#;8221Direction of Change: for skills and fairness in Finland”, which examines the ongoing changes affecting the status of employees and Finnish society as a whole, such as globalisation, ageing of the population and the evolution of working life. The document focuses on four topics: the future of Finnish work, the effectiveness of a consensus society, promoting equality and encouraging participation.

On 6 June the Congress will elect the President of SAK, together with the members and chairpersons of the organisation’s General Council and Executive Board. 120 representatives of member trade unions will be elected to the new General Council of SAK.

The Congress will also debate various resolutions proposed by the trade unions. A total of 34 such resolutions have been proposed on such subjects as improving unemployment benefits, supervising the use and treatment of employment agency workers, ensuring fairness in occupational health care and job safety, and improving the status of workers’ representatives and the standard of services for union members.

Dozens of Finnish guests and representatives from the international trade union movement will also attend the SAK Congress as observers. Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen will address the Congress on behalf of the Finnish government at the opening session on 5 June. International greetings will in turn be delivered by John Monks, the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation - ETUC.

A draft of the Congress working document, the resolutions proposed by member trade unions and other Congress materials may be examined in advance on the SAK website. The website will also provide a daily news service from the Congress in three languages: Finnish, Swedish and English. Some parts of the Congress will also be broadcast live through the SAK Internet service.

Some of the press conferences arranged during the Congress may also be monitored as live Internet broadcasts. Journalists will be able to ask questions through the Internet during these information sessions.

The SAK Congress will be covered in Finnish on the web at www.sak.fi/edustajakokous.