Striving for more bargaining power:
TU and Electrical Workers’ Union opt for closer cooperation

Helsinki (13.10.2009 - Juhani Artto) The Electrical Workers' Union and the Union of Salaried Employees announced on Monday that they had agreed on much closer cooperation. The goal is to increase their bargaining power. The two organisations also want to intensify cooperation in internal and external communication, training and international work.

Around half of the rank and file members of the two unions have common employers in industry, the energy sector, the ICT sector, and in the construction industry. Martti Alakoski, the president of the Electrical Workers Union regards close cooperation between the unions as only natural because at many work places it is difficult to draw the line between work done by electricians and by salaried employees.

Cooperation of this nature will cut across union confederation lines. The Electrical Workers Union is part of SAK and TU belongs to STTK. However, this is not as dramatic as it sounds since both unions have -for two decades now- been active members of the Council of Industrial Unions TP which is made up of trade unions from all three union confederations (the third being Akava). The new agreement between TU and the Electrical Workers serves to strengthen cooperation between the two unions, TU's president Antti Rinne says.

TU has 120,000 rank and file members, the Electrical Workers' Union 31,000.