Two out of three members of SAK trade unions already surf the Net

86 per cent of elected union officials use the Internet regularly

Internet use has grown rapidly among the rank and file members of SAK trade unions. Where only 40 per cent of members used the Net in 2000, the corresponding figure in 2003 has risen to 66 per cent. This represents an increase of 65 per cent over a three-year period. These facts were among the findings of an SAK membership survey conducted in late autumn 2003.

Even though surfing the Net clearly remains a more common pastime for younger age groups, there has been a clear boost in Internet use by more mature SAK trade unionists. 90 per cent of SAK union members under 30 years old are Internet users, compared to 46 per cent of their fellow members over 50 years of age. However, Internet use has grown by as much as 83 per cent among the over-50s. Interest in surfing the net has also grown rapidly in the 40-49 year age group.

On the other hand, the survey showed no significant impact by gender or occupation in patterns of Internet use.

Trade union Internet services reach their audience

The survey also examined why people use the Internet. Nearly all kinds of Internet use have grown over the three-year period. The most common uses include various directory services, information retrieval from websites, e-mail, leisure time pursuits and electronic banking. About three-quarters of SAK net users take advantage of these services, where only about one half of them did so three years ago. The fastest growth has occurred in the use of Internet-based consumer banking services.

SAK union members are also using Internet services provided by the trade union movement. One third of SAK union members using the Internet have visited the website of their own trade union, where the corresponding proportion three years ago was only 14 per cent. About one in six survey respondents (16 per cent) who use the Internet claimed to have visited the SAK website. This means that about 100,000 members of SAK trade unions have already taken advantage of the SAK Internet service in some way. However, use of the Confederation's Internet service by the members of its affiliated trade unions has clearly lagged behind the level of interest shown by those members in the corresponding services of their own unions.

Elected officials more active than rank and file members on the Net

The survey indicates that elected trade union representatives, such as shop stewards and labour protection delegates, are clearly more active Internet users than their rank and file workmates: as many as 86 per cent of such officials use the Internet regularly. When examining the Internet use of elected union officials, it should be noticed that their average age is higher than that of the rank and file members of their trade unions. 76 per cent of survey respondents serving in elected positions were over 40 years of age, while over-40s made up only 62 per cent of other respondents. On the other hand, only 7 per cent of survey respondents under 30 years of age were elected officials, compared with 19 per cent of rank and file respondents in this age group. Thus, while the evidence generally suggests that there is a generation gap in Internet use, most of those serving in elected positions belong to a generation for which Internet use ought to be less familiar than it is to younger trade union members.

The survey indicates that nearly half (46 per cent) of SAK-affiliated trade union members access the Internet from home, but only just over one third (35 per cent) use the Net at work. Home use is also more common than use at work among elected officials, but the difference is less pronounced: 67 per cent of elected officials use the Internet at home and 61 per cent use it at work.

In the incomes policy settlement negotiations held in autumn 2002 SAK called for more modern facilities for shop stewards and labour protection delegates. A clause was included in the agreement ensuring that the ordinary facilities provided to elected officials would also include computers, together with associated software, Internet connections and e-mail.

The SAK membership survey was compiled in association with Vesa Seppälä of BKS-Konsultointi Oy. It was based on data gathered by mid-November 2003 in responses from a total of 1,286 members of SAK-affiliated trade unions to a questionnaire posted to them in October.