Despite language barriers, a friend’s recom­men­da­tion to join a union makes a difference

Many emplo­yees with foreign background don’t speak Finnish well and spend most of their time outside work with people who speak their language. Their know­ledge of Finnish society and working life may be scarce, so infor­ma­tion about the impor­tant work done by the Industrial Union may not reach them through “official chan­nels”. And even if it does, they may have doubts about the bene­fits of joining — after all, members­hip costs money. The language barrier raises the bar for joining a union and especially for applying for posi­tions of trust.

“Infor­ma­tion in diffe­rent langua­ges is needed more than ever”

“I’m from Ukraine and moved to Finland just over five years ago, before Russia attac­ked and the war began. I hope that the war will end and I can return to my home country.

A large majo­rity of emplo­yees at my workplace are foreig­ners, but only about one in three have joined the Industrial Union. Overall, there are a lot of foreig­ners in the horticul­ture industry. Many are seaso­nal workers, which furt­her reduces moti­va­tion to join the union.

It’s easier to become a member if you have friends with posi­tive expe­riences of the union. Back when I joined the union, I did so at the recom­men­da­tion of a Ukrai­nian cowor­ker. Today, I’m the chief shop steward and occu­pa­tio­nal safety repre­sen­ta­tive. I’ve also served as a repre­sen­ta­tive at the Union Congress and atten­ded many cour­ses at the Murikka Insti­tute. I try to make sure that emplo­yees look at their pays­lips and check that everyt­hing is paid correctly.

It’d be good to have mate­rials avai­lable in many langua­ges that we could hand out to people directly.

The language barrier is a major reason why it is hard to get people of foreign background to join the union. It’d be good to have mate­rials avai­lable in many langua­ges that we could hand out to people directly. To some degree, these wishes have been met, and I unders­tand that the matter is a ques­tion of resources for the union. Still, we should strive to find ways to make it easier to access infor­ma­tion. The fact that the collec­tive agree­ment is avai­lable in Finnish helps greatly. Many people could also be inte­res­ted in study oppor­tu­ni­ties and cour­ses offe­red by the union, but nearly all are in Finnish and seaso­nal workers may not have the time for them.

While I have not faced disc­ri­mi­na­tion at work, it would be easier to get things done as a Finnish speaker.

It’s hard to say how to get more foreig­ners to apply to posi­tions of trust. Recently, a course for shop stewards was held in English for the first time at Murikka Insti­tute, which I was really happy to see.”

“It’s worth talking about the bene­fits of the union even on free time”

“Some cowor­kers have asked me why I give a part of my pay to the union, saying that the money is wasted and that there’s no need for unions.

I see the members­hip as a form of insu­rance. The members­hip subsc­rip­tion is not that high, and the union gives me support when I need it. I have also recei­ved assis­tance in dealing with the emplo­y­ment autho­ri­ties when I was unemployed.

I star­ted as a temp agency worker at ABB last year. I would prefer to be emplo­yed directly. That way, I would get better pay and my emplo­y­ment would be more secure. Previously, I worked at Valmet Auto­mo­tive in Uusi­kau­punki as a direct emplo­yee. There, I joined the Industrial Union when my department’s shop steward told me about the union. I probably wouldn’t have joined otherwise.

It is a good idea to talk about the bene­fits of the union to those who are not members, inclu­ding outside work and on free time, such as in the sauna or on a picnic. Many people believe their friends’ and acquain­tances’ word more readily than strangers.

Many people believe their friends’ and acquain­tances’ word more readily than strangers.

I have a great deal of love for Finland. I’m from Nige­ria and moved here in 2008. I initially lived with a Finnish family in Valkea­koski and lear­ned a lot from them about the Finnish way of life.

Admit­tedly, there’s a lot of racism here. For example, I’ve been called the N‑word at a shop­ping centre. I stayed calm and told the man thank you very much,  which made him furious. A woman went to tell the secu­rity guard, and the man was escor­ted out. Even in working life, some mana­gers treat immi­grants worse than Finnish employees.

The best things about Finland are the peace and quiet and the fact that not everyt­hing revol­ves around money. It’s also safe here. There is no gap between the rich and the poor as in many other count­ries, such as the United States or the United Kingdom.”

“Conver­sa­tions with shop stewards are important”

“I’ve worked at Kone for 35 years, almost the entire time I’ve lived in Finland.

My family and I left Viet­nam as refu­gees, trave­ling through Cambo­dia to Thai­land, where we stayed in a refu­gee camp. I had a wife and a newborn son. After that, we came to Finland. The year was 1988. This has been a good country to live and work in.

I atten­ded a Finnish language course but didn’t learn much. After a year, I star­ted work at Kone, which is where I began to learn Finnish for the first time. If I didn’t know what a word meant, I’d always ask my coworkers.

Some­ti­mes, I’ve been told unplea­sant things because of my immi­grant background. But such inci­dents are rare. Finns are usually friendly and offer help when you ask for advice. But when someone is a racist, I feel that other Finns often stay silent.

If there is no shop steward in the workplace, foreig­ners may feel that it isn’t worth it to join a union.

I joined the Metalwor­kers’ Union right away in 1989 because I thought it was manda­tory for emplo­yees. Later, I came to unders­tand the bene­fits of the union after spea­king with shop stewards. Such conver­sa­tions are very impor­tant to foreig­ners. Better than watc­hing the news, they help you unders­tand what is going on in the workplace and society as a whole. Writ­ten Finnish is difficult, but the spoken language is easier.

If there’s a problem of any kind, you can go and take it up with the shop steward. But if there is no shop steward in the workplace, foreig­ners may feel that it isn’t worth it to join a union. Many people find the idea of calling the union your­self to resolve an issue difficult.

I’ve been invol­ved in the local branch in Hyvin­kää and stood as a candi­date in the Union Congress elec­tions. But I felt that I don’t speak Finnish well enough to talk about complex topics. Perhaps the union could orga­nise Finnish cour­ses if there’s a desire to get more people of immi­grant background in posi­tions of trust.”

Read the article in Finnish!