Finland Times

 

File Photo – Lehtikuva.

The trade union confederation of affiliates for highly skilled people Akava has decided to withdraw from the EU office of Finnish trade union confederations FinUnion.

 

According to the Akava leadership, the annual 109,000 euro membership fee paid to FinUnion has not resulted in a changed operating environment within the EU.

 

Akava President Sture Fjäder said employee organisation experts and heads of international affairs have taken care of EU lobbying, as well as direct contacts for cooperation with international trade union organisations.

 

“When the world around you is changing, the activities of the trade union movement must also change. Akava supports the kind of lobbying that benefits Akava employees,” Fjäder said in a statement.

 

The association, however, said that cooperation will be continued with the Council of European Professional and Managerial Staff (EUROCADRES) as well as the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).

 

The financing decision for the Labour Research Institute (PT) has not yet been made. The final decision will be made before October 5.

 

“Akava’s annual membership fee to PT has grown over the last five years from 169,000 euros to 273,000. This funding has been used on PT’s basic infrastructure and non-profit basic research. If we want more research that benefits Akava then we will pay for the studies separately, and these budgets won’t stretch,” Fjäder said.

 

As an alternative, Akava is examining the possibility of buying their own outside scientific research and investing more in their own research activities.