“Together we can go far” – Union Envoys raise awareness and recruit new members

The Industrial Union’s Union Envoys gathered to exchange ideas and brainstorm ways to reach out to workers with foreign backgrounds and recruit them as union members. The Union Envoy programme has gotten off to a flying start.

Teollisuusliiton Helsingin toimiston tapahtumatilassa käy vilkas keskustelu. Jäsenlähettiläät vaihtavat ajatuksia ulkomaalaistaustaisten työntekijöiden tavoittamisesta, tiedon jakamisesta ja uusien jäsenten hankinnasta.

Hyväksi on havaittu, että uusi työntekijä kohdataan hänen ensimmäisenä työpäivänään, ammattiliiton jäsenyyden hyödyistä kerrotaan tiiviisti ja työntekijöitä tavataan paikoissa, joissa he viettävät vapaa-aikaansa.

Yksi heittää ilmoille ajatuksen, että ammattiyhdistysliikkeen näkyvyyttä lisäisi Teollisuusliitto-tatuoinnin ottaminen. Työ­eh­to­asian­tun­ti­ja Deniz Kacar ulkomaalaistaustaisen työvoiman yksiköstä toteaa, että silloin oltaisiin jo turhan tosissaan aiheen kanssa. Nauru täyttää huoneen.

Koolla on 25 Teollisuusliiton jäsenlähettilästä, joiden taustat ovat eri puolilla maailmaa. Yhteinen tekijä on liiton jäsenyys ja tahto toimia työntekijöiden hyväksi ja reilun yhteiskunnan puolesta.

Noin vuosi sitten aloitettu jäsenlähettilästoiminta on kerännyt kaikkiaan noin 50 aktiivia mukaan. Jokainen voi muokata lähettilään tehtävästä itselleen sopivan. Nyt hyviä käytäntöjä ollaan ensimmäistä kertaa jakamassa kasvotusten.

HELP WITH INTEGRATION INTO FINNISH WORKING LIFE

Union Envoy Svitlana Brovarska moved from Ukraine to Finland six and a half years ago. Before that, she had visited Finland as a seasonal worker. She has accumulated a wide range of experience in agricultural and gardening work.

“I joined a trade union because I have seen and experienced first-hand how employers violate workers’ rights,” Brovarska says.

An event like this strengthens both the union and us

In Finland, Brovarska has received assistance in her own language. She wants to provide the same kind of help to others.

“Many Ukrainians have difficulty entering the Finnish labour market and understanding the legal system. I want to help them to become part of Finnish working life and society. That is why I became a Union Envoy,” Brovarska explains.

Union Envoys stay in touch with each other and with the union’s Foreign Labour Unit via an online platform. However, meeting in person is important.

“We share our experiences on how to get people to join the union. An event like this strengthens both the union and us,” Brovarska says.

MEMBER RECRUITMENT

Union Envoy Shahzaib Anwaar previously worked as a software developer in Pakistan. He anticipated the rise of artificial intelligence and started to explore international options: where to go and what to do for a living?

”I did a lot of research, and Finland was the best fit for me,” Anwaar says.

An opportunity to study mechanical engineering and production technology opened up at the Lieksa campus of the North Karelia Municipal Education and Training Consortium (Riveria). He is currently working as an apprentice at Hanza Mechanics in Heinävesi.

”If everything goes according to plan, I will graduate in May next year,” Anwaar says.

Anwaar is passionate about society, politics, workers’ rights and the prevention of labour exploitation.

“Whenever I learn something new, I always tell my friends about it. I was essentially doing the work of a Union Envoy before the Union Envoy programme even existed,” Anwaar says.

Over the past two years, he has recruited at least nine new members for the union. Workers with foreign backgrounds often have limited knowledge of what it is like to work in Finland.

”For example, many foreign workers accept one fixed-term contract after another because they do not know that back-to-back fixed-term contracts are illegal,” Anwaar explains.

Anwaar, who has been a regular attendee of the union’s courses, recently noticed that an across-the-board pay raise had not been extended to those working under apprenticeship contracts. The error was corrected once it was brought to the employer’s attention.

”Everyone with an apprenticeship contract received a pay raise,” Anwaar says.

Finland has traditionally had strong protections for workers, but workers’ rights have been eroded in recent years. Anwaar finds the setbacks frustrating, but they also motivate him to take action.

“A school of small fish working together is stronger than one big fish. That kind of mindset motivates me,” Anwaar says.

RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT WORKERS’ RIGHTS

Union Envoy Samuel Dauda from Nigeria used to work in the logistics sector before coming to Finland. His path also led him to Lieksa to study mechanical engineering and production technology.

Dauda joined the Industrial Union after representatives from the union visited the school to talk about the union’s activities. Information provided by his teacher also played a key role.

”There is strength in numbers,” Dauda says.

Working with his hands is what Dauda is looking forward to in his future career. He is particularly interested in welding. He currently works as an apprentice at Hanza Mechanics in Joensuu.

Learning about the rules of working life and educating others are key responsibilities of Union Envoys. Dauda has recruited new members for the union from among his friends and acquaintances.

“I want to take the union’s courses so that I can stay up to date and pass on what I learn,“ Dauda says.

Standing up for yourself in working life is not easy if you do not know the rules.

“I know my rights and understand the collective bargaining system, but most people do not. That is why I became a Union Envoy,” Dauda says.

STRONGER TOGETHER

Union Envoy Ihor Chebotarev from Ukraine says that he first heard about working conditions in Finland ten years ago. He was working at a shipyard in the Bahamas at the time.

“My coworkers there told me that there is a country called Finland where workers are protected. Moving to Finland became my dream,” Chebotarev says.

Chebotarev, who currently works as a tiler at the Turku shipyard, came to Finland in 2022. He has noticed that workers with foreign backgrounds are often misinformed.

I want to help because I was helped myself.

Many foreigners leave Finland under the impression that working in Finland is thoroughly miserable and that Finnish trade unions are useless.

“That is simply not true. I can say from my own experience that Finnish labour laws and the collective bargaining system work brilliantly when workers understand their rights,” Chebotarev says.

He helps other workers with foreign backgrounds to adjust to life in Finland.

”I want to help because I was helped myself,” Chebotarev says.

For him, the Union Envoys’ meeting is a great networking opportunity. Meeting people from different backgrounds broadens your perspectives.

“This event has brought together people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds as well as different language groups. Together we are strong and can go far,” Chebotarev says.

HUGE POTENTIAL

Deniz Kacar, who works as a specialist in migrant workers’ issues at the Industrial Union’s Foreign Labour Unit, is pleased with how the Union Envoy meeting turned out. He was especially impressed by the presentations given by the Union Envoys themselves.

”I always hoped that the members of the Union Envoy network would be proactive and that there would be no need for top-down management,” Kacar says.

The presentations demonstrated that the network has succeeded in raising awareness and recruiting new members.

“The speakers had clearly given these issues some thought. They had taken their roles as Union Envoys seriously and gained experience,” Kacar says.

One of the ideas floated at the meeting was for Union Envoys to start accompanying the union’s representatives on workplace visits. This was seen as a way to help with, for example, overcoming language barriers and understanding different cultural backgrounds.

“Union Envoys have a wealth of knowledge and expertise that we ourselves lack. The network has huge potential,” Kacar says.

According to Kacar, anyone who finds themselves wondering whether they should become a Union Envoy clearly is the right kind of person for the job. Everyone has something to offer that can be useful in the work of a Union Envoy.

The future of the Union Envoy programme looks bright.

”The momentum has exceeded expectations, which were already high,” Kacar says.