Fjäder, leader of Akava since 2011, was elected for another year in an assembly held in Helsinki.
Kauppi was supported by the Union of Professional Engineers and Technology Academics, of whom Kauppi is the executive director.
Kauppi's supporters criticized that under Fjäder's reign, Akava has become introverted and polarized.
Fjäder was supported for another term in the assembly by representatives of the Education Sector Trade Union, the Agronomists Union, Talentia, and the Medical Association.
Akava decided to elect a chairman for a short one-year period, so as to not have confederation elections during the same years as parliamentary elections.
