Lauri Lyly: Elimination of inequality must be the core goal of the union movement

The growth of inequalities between citizens was one of the main issues in Lauri Lyly&#;8217s speech on Monday, at the SAK Congress. Lyly is the President of SAK. The income gap between the rich and the poor has widened, as has the gap between the life expectancies of people with different levels of income.

"Life expectancy for the lowest fifth in incomes has remained stable, whereas life expectancy in all other income groups has risen. In 2007, the gap between the highest and lowest fifths was 12 years for men and 7 years for women."

"This kind of development does not please us. The success of a welfare society can only be measured by the way it treats the most vulnerable people", Lyly strongly stressed.

He sought to remind his audience that the trade union movement has traditionally been - and also wants to continue to be in the future - a champion of vulnerable people and defender of equality.

The trade union movement has been able to preserve its status in Finnish society, Lyly asserted. He said that wage and salary earners have been able to respond fairly well to the actual challenges, such as globalisation, the global economic crisis and cope with the changes in economic structures and the way work is organized.

One very real challenge is the decentralization of the collective bargaining process. It presents fresh and radical challenges, not encountered before, to the movement's unity and ability to cooperate within the union movement.

None of this causes Lyly to falter: "I am sure that when the one million rank and file member SAK is united on a certain matter, there cannot be in Finland a government or employers who could walk over us."

At the same time, he urges unions to redouble their efforts in seeking even tighter cooperation in collective bargaining and stepping up the all- important role of having a positive and healthy influence on society. He also sees the need to strengthen unions' local level organizations and activity. In Lyly's opinion more than enough economic resources have been targeted at local activity. "But are these resources being used effectively in real terms when it comes to safeguarding interests", the SAK President asked.

He was satisfied with the functioning of the network of shop stewards and safety representatives. "New people have begun to act as shop stewards and safety representatives. A generational change has taken place in the last few years and is still going on."

But as a result of work organizations being shattered there are too many work places without shop stewards or other employees elected to positions of trust, Lyly remarked.

With regard to the EU, Lyly reiterated that the attitude of the Finnish trade unions has, from the outset, been positive. It is vital for industry in Finland to have free access to its major markets. In addition unionists have been attracted by the possibility to work for improvements in living and working conditions in Europe and in the whole world, Lyly explained.

"Now all this belief in development has encountered the reality of things getting worse. As a result of the economic crisis, decisions having a serious impact on the life of wage and salary earners have been made in many countries, without any dialogue with the labour market parties."

SAK wants more social dialogue in Europe, Lyly said. "Therefore rights surrounding working life have to be upgraded to parallel the market freedoms out there. This is our central goal in our activity concerning EU issues."

Photos from SAK's Congress (Flickr)