My wife and I would like to join a union, but I come from a nation where unions basically have no power to strike and are used as tools to help keep workers down. So I am fairly skeptical if I am honest, so would love to hear from people who are in them.
[here is what I mean by “no power to strike” ](https://youtu.be/9Atphj7rkbc)
*EDIT* Thanks everyone for the replies, just wanted to make sure unions in Finland actually supported the worker and not the bosses and still have their power to strike need be without getting in trouble with the law.
19 comments
I would join an union in Finland only if the local union representative is a capable person. Most I have met are not.
In what field do you work? Generally unions are really good here in Finland.
Yes, finnish unions are good and you should consider joining. They have power to strike, to raise wages and to help you out in case you have any problems with your employer.
Depends on the field. The transport workers’ union (AKT) has traditionally been very aggressive with striking since they have the power to close Finnish international trade entirely. Then again, higher educated fields’ unions don’t do much beyond gathering salary data and offering legal assistance in disputes, and they don’t negotiate collective employment agreements like many other unions.
Unions like PAM(service workers) and SuPer(healthcare) are kinda weird because they technically have the power to shut massive parts of society down but they almost never use it. I guess the threat is sorta enough.
You should definitely join an union, which one is the much tougher choice (if you have alternatives).
You should definitely join your union. It’s such an important part of our society
Yes but European Unions are way better.
Unions are not only good, they are in practice free, since you can deduct them from your income taxation.
Many foreigners that do basic jobs don’t realize power of their unions and are abused by their bosses.
What field do you work in?
Depends on the union. But generally speaking, here it always better to join a union. If only to guarantee a higher income should you be unemployed – most of unemployment is paid out of union dues, so if you are not in a union and unemployed, you would get only the basic government support.
Also unions will give you free legal support, and if you have trouble with an employer, they will help you legally – for free. That alone is such a big deal that everyone should definitely join a union!
Personally, I have used my union (PAM) once for support in a wage dispute. They gave me good advice promptly, which guaranteed a solution to the issue and I was paid back wages owed over multiple years.
In international standards, the unions in Nordic countries are the most powerful ones in the world. We have a history of the majority of people being members (at times it was something like 80% of the workforce) which in turn means a lot of leverage against employers.
But striking isn’t really a good measurement of union’s power since it’s the last thing they can or want to do. More than 99% of negotiations are successfull before anyone has to go on strike.
Edit: Want to add that this only remains true if people keep joining unions!
I haven’t found them useful. Should join some kassa though for unemployment moneys. Union membership not required for it.
Fcuk unions.
If you are an unable wuss, then you need union. People with character, stamina and personality stay away from communist unions.
I also come from a country with useless unions. But I have been living in Finland for ten years now and I was amazed at the quality.
yes.
I am quite satisfied with my union (JHL).
We’ve striked against pay cuts, benefits cuts and as recently as last week they helped me to get my overtime pay (almost 3k €) that my former employer was unwilling to pay.
couple phone calls and maybe two hours and I get a call that the overtime pay will be on my bank acct in two days.
No. They are almost all against UBI and don’t help the people/workers in the most precarious circumstances (temp, 0 hour etc). Unions have their own highly paid bureaucrats and they want the system to be based on wage slaving/salary. That is becoming a rare status for people of my generation.
Probably an unpopular opinion: Unions in Finland are in general very powerful, in fact way too powerful. In effect they have a veto on all major reforms and therefore Finland is on the way to bankrupcy. Our economic growth is lackluster to say the least. We’re living on loaned money. For many people there’s no incentive to work because they get almost the same living standard by watching Netflix and drinking beer at home. The biggest and most powerful unions are married to the social democratic party SDP. Hard to say whether the unions are actually running the country or the government.
In some fields they seem to be very good. On the other hand, I have only had one three day strike in about 18 years of working, and the general salary increases have been smaller than inflation.
It is bit difficult to compare to other countries, but obviously in Germany the workers have way more power, with representatives having a seat in supervising boards of different companies etc. And also they seem to be pretty powerful in France, where strikes are common. On the other hand, just strikes themselves are not great way of measuring the amount of power unions have, generally they should only happen when negotiations are failing otherwise.
I’m in the Engineer’s Union currently, I used to belong to the Metal Worker’s Union previously.
The Engineer’s Union has been great, I haven’t had to use their lawyer services, but I’ve attended a few of their courses which have helped me greatly in my career.
Kinda similar for the Metal Workers Union, but I didnt attend courses but did use their holiday services like very cheap cabins.