Intro­ducing the Hermes app – a new advocacy tool

The Hermes mobile applica­tion has been developed for foreign seasonal workers and their emplo­yers. The applica­tion provides infor­ma­tion in five languages on terms of emplo­y­ment, emplo­y­ment law and living in Finland.

Industrial Union will perma­nently adopt the app, which was piloted in the agricul­ture and forestry sectors and developed in 2022 as part of the TYÖ2030 programme, once the project is completed.

“We are now consi­de­ring how the basis of the Hermes project can be used to build an advocacy tool and what approach is the most sensible and cost-effec­tive in terms of imple­men­ta­tion,” Jyrki Virtanen, the Labour Market Director at the Industrial Union, says.

We want the applica­tion to become an advocacy tool for all the sectors repre­sented by the Industrial Union.

The plan at the first stage is to intro­duce the applica­tion to the techno­logy industry. At the same time, the language options provided by the app will also be reviewed. At the moment, the Hermes app is available in Finnish, Swedish, English, Ukrai­nian and Russian.

“We want the applica­tion to become an advocacy tool for all the sectors repre­sented by the Industrial Union. It will be another tool that supports the other tools in our arsenal,” Virtanen says about the longer-term plans.

UNIQUE APP

The idea for the Hermes applica­tion was created in spring 2021 by the Research Unit of the Industrial Union together with agricul­ture and forestry industry experts,” Anu-Hanna Anttila, Research Manager at the Industrial Union who led the Hermes project, explains.

The project was launched in February 2022. The project team worked together with partners such as emplo­yers’ associa­tions, immigrant associa­tions and authorities.

“It has been a pleasure to lead this project and to be a part of it. After all, everyt­hing happened rather quickly, in just over a year,” Anttila says.

Accor­ding to a survey conducted before applying for project funding, there were no similar applications.

“Hermes is a unique innova­tion in working life,” Anttila says.

User-friend­li­ness is the app’s key principle. Free to use, the app even works on older smartp­hones and does not collect any infor­ma­tion about its users.

“Despite the tight schedule, we had the patience to test the applica­tion with users and improve it through feedback on user experience,” Anttila says.

In the future, the Hermes applica­tion will be made available for other unions, free of charge and on the condi­tion that the purpose of the applica­tion will not be changed and the applica­tion will not be used for commercial purposes.

“All in all, I am very pleased with the Hermes applica­tion, which conti­nues to develop in our hands,” Anttila says.

OVERCOMING THE LANGUAGE BARRIER

In agricul­ture and forestry industries, where the app was piloted, foreign workers may account for up to 90% of all seasonal workers.

Riikka Vasama, Bargai­ning Specia­list at the Industrial Union, specia­lises in foreign-born labour force and labour mobility.

“In the techno­logy industry, too, there are many workplaces with a signi­ficant propor­tion of foreign workers,” Vasama says.

Commu­nica­tion can be difficult even if the chief shop steward wants to help.

Employee repre­sen­ta­tives have reported that some workplaces struggle with overco­ming the language barrier. As such, there is a need for a tool that can be used to inform all emplo­yees about terms of emplo­y­ment and union membership.

“Commu­nica­tion can be difficult even if the chief shop steward wants to help,” Vasama says.

The work is just begin­ning, but Jukka Saviluoto, Bargai­ning and Financial Specia­list for techno­logy industries at the Industrial Union, believes that Hermes has great potential.

“This is a great tool for explai­ning the provi­sions of collec­tive agree­ments,” Saviluoto says.

FOR WIDER USE

The strength of the Hermes app lies in the use of plain language. Collec­tive agree­ments sometimes feature complex phrasing, but in the app, the infor­ma­tion is presented in an easy-to-unders­tand format.

Editing the texts on collec­tive agree­ments of diffe­rent sectors into plain language, creating diffe­rent language versions and keeping the materials up to date require resources, but there is no other way in sight.

“Every industry we repre­sent has its own unique collec­tive agree­ment, so it is not possible to provide infor­ma­tion that would apply to all sectors,” Vasama says.

The tried and tested applica­tion must now be widely adopted by both emplo­yees and emplo­yers in order to spread infor­ma­tion on working life. As of March, the app had been downloaded more than 2,500 times.

Project Coordi­nator Henri von Adlerk­rone from the Industrial Union says that the app is at the moment being marketed to young people.

“Students are looking for a summer job so we want to spread the word about the app to educa­tional insti­tu­tions, guidance counsel­lors and student unions,” von Adlerk­rone says.

He also talks about Hermes at events organised by the union and local branches, as well as on courses at the Murikka Institute.

Download the Hermes app: www.hermesapp.fi/en