“This training was an eye-opener” – Learning the rules of Finnish working life

Debra Haroon, Olusola Adekoya and Marius-Ovidiu Bucur were among those who partici­pated in “The rules of working life in English”, a course organised by the Industrial Union in Murikka-opisto on 1–3 June.

“I can see myself working as a shop steward in the future”, Haroon says.

”This training was an eye-opener. Anything is possible”, Adekoya says.

Organised for the first time, the course had 19 partici­pants from various sectors of the Industrial Union. Although the partici­pants’ origins were from across the globe, what they had in common was their desire to learn more about the rules of Finnish working life.

“This training gave us a suitcase full of tools for the future”, says Haroon.

”The course was well organised and also enter­tai­ning”, Bucur agrees.

The course consisted of, among other things, basic infor­ma­tion on emplo­y­ment contracts, collec­tive agree­ments and Finnish labour legislation.

“I can now see that I, too, have done things wrong because I have not been aware of things”, Bucur says.

TAPPING INTO TALENT

Haroon, who moved from Pakistan to Finland in 2014, is a teacher by profes­sion but has not been able to find a perma­nent job in her own field. She is currently working in textile care at Lindström Oy in Turku.

“Language can become a barrier to finding a job”, Haroon says, hoping that emplo­yers would not waste talent because of language issues.

While people in Finland are generally friendly, Haroon has also experienced racism. After working for years without any union or unemplo­y­ment fund membership, she joined the Industrial Union when her employer mentioned it.

In Finland, everyday errands and tasks can be easily handled in English, but special termi­no­logy and the legis­la­tion can be difficult.

“My super­visor starts talking in Finnish but conti­nues in English if it seems like I don’t unders­tand”, Bucur gives an example.

The union helps you, but you have to take respon­si­bi­lity for what you do.

Bucur moved to Finland from Romania five years ago and is now working as a mechanic at Steelcomp Vaasa Oy.

At first, he was a member of the General Unemplo­y­ment Fund YTK, thinking that the YTK was also a trade union. After a problem at the workplace, he realised how things really were and joined the Industrial Union.

“The union helps you, but you have to take respon­si­bi­lity for what you do”, Bucur says.

Bucur thinks that in Finland, the balance between businesses and trade unions works well, whereas in Romania, the labour market system is still a work in progress.

HOPING FOR MORE TRAINING

Adekoya moved to Finland from Nigeria 14 years ago. He is currently working at the Uusikau­punki car factory of Valmet Automo­tive Oy.

“I joined the union when I started at Valmet. Someone advised that it’s a good idea to be a member, because then you get security”, Adekoya says.

“When you are a member, you know that you are supported. The union cannot, however, change a wrong into a right. You have to be a good guy at work”, Adekoya continues.

While Adekoya has enjoyed working at the car factory, he would like the work commu­nity to offer more oppor­tu­ni­ties for social interac­tion. That way, infor­ma­tion would also spread more effec­ti­vely in the community.

The trio we inter­viewed contemplated the possi­bi­lity that in the future, English courses could be aimed at all union members. In this pilot training, all partici­pants were of foreign background.

“It would be great to have integrated programmes where Finnish people and foreig­ners could learn together,” Haroon says.

“Thank you to the union for this training. We want more of this”, Adekoya says.

GENERAL INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION

The English language course was held by Bargai­ning Specia­lists Riikka Vasama and Martti Paavi­lainen from the Industrial Union.

“We, Murikka-opisto and our Educa­tional Services have identi­fied a need for foreign-language training”, Vasama says.

The pilot course was based on an intro­duc­tory course for shop stewards.

“We went over general infor­ma­tion about working as a shop steward and how people can partici­pate in the union’s activi­ties”, Vasama says.

The instruc­tors were delighted by the large number of partici­pants and their active contribution.

“We had a lot of discus­sions on emplo­y­ment contracts, collec­tive agree­ments, Finnish legis­la­tion and how they are related”, Paavi­lainen says.

We went over general infor­ma­tion about working as a shop steward and how people can partici­pate in the union’s activities.

The partici­pants had many specific questions. It was not easy to give simple, clear-cut answers because the law and agree­ments do not always have exhaus­tive expla­na­tions for everyt­hing. As a last resort, solutions can be sought from the court.

“Hopefully, we were able to send a message that sometimes there is no one right answer to a situa­tion or problem”, Vasama says.

RIGHT TO TRAINING

The course was marketed directly by email to union members who had stated that their language was other than Finnish or Swedish. This meant 3,500 members in total.

“It was news to them that they are entitled to receive training at the union’s expense in Murikka-opisto”, Vasama says.

The partici­pants gave both criticism and praise to their shop stewards. Without a common language, it can be difficult to advocate or promote things, but much also depends on attitudes.

“We must be able to support shop stewards who work in compa­nies that have immigrants”, Paavi­lainen says.

The Industrial Union trainings are available in the Union’s elect­ronic course system Telmo at teollisuusliitto.etapahtuma.fi/kurssikalenteri