What do the Union members do, think and want?

It is abso­lu­tely vital for a trade union to know who the members are, and what they want, and expect. The union is made up of members and exists for its members.

15.7.2020

Even though the roots of the Industrial Union go back to the year 1869 when the first associa­tion for book prin­ters in Helsinki was establis­hed, the Industrial Union of today began its work at the begin­ning of 2018.

Now the 2.5 years old union wants to find out what the members are thin­king and doing and what they expect from the Union. A major survey from among the Union members was carried out in February and March 2020.

Every member who is active in the labour market and has given his or her e‑mail address to the Union, recei­ved a ques­tion­naire. The number of ques­tion­nai­res sent out was 85,000 and the number of replies was 13,500. This makes up quite a repre­sen­ta­tive percen­tage of replies, 15.9 per cent.

In gene­ral, those who replied, fairly well repre­sent union members accor­ding to profes­sion, place of resi­dence and age. Women were, by and large, more keen to reply than men.

The amount of infor­ma­tion recei­ved is huge and it will take time to analyse it. For this reason the union will publish the results in seven parts, from June until November.

As the union is working for its members in many areas, the ques­tions in the survey touc­hed many themes. A large part of the ques­tions concer­ned work, as deve­lo­ping working life is the core issue for any trade union.

One goal of the survey is to find out how the union should deve­lop into being what members wish for and expect of it. Some ques­tions concer­ned members’ actions, atti­tu­des, thoughts and hopes. Ques­tions about hobbies and leisure time acti­vi­ties are inclu­ded when plan­ning union events and members­hip benefits.

The first part, called A diffe­rent approach to the member, focuses on what the survey is for and who the members are. The second part called After all, everyt­hing is fine, focuses on working life expe­riences. Both were publis­hed in June.

200 REPLIED IN ENGLISH

The ques­tion­naire was sent out in three langua­ges. Those, who did not have Finnish or Swedish as their language in the Union files, got it in English.

A total of 2.4 per cent of the ques­tion­nai­res sent out were in English. And very few of the people who got these actually have English as a mother tongue, they speak a wide variety of langua­ges. In spite of this, 1.5 per cent of those who replied did so in English. This makes up some 200 people.

So, how does the average member of the union look like then? A typical female member is 46 years old, either Sari from Uusi­maa and working in the media and prin­ting branch or Päivi from Oulu region, working in the metal industry.

She is in a rela­tions­hip, no kids at home. She also has many inte­rests, like exercise, to have a sauna, travels, inte­rior decor and cooking.

A typical male member is 45 years old, like metal worker Jari from Pirkan­maa or sawmill worker Mika from south-east Finland. He is in a rela­tions­hip with one child at home. He has seve­ral hobbies, but the most inte­res­ting ones are exercise and – no surprise, this is Finland – to have a sauna.

TEXT HEIKKI JOKINEN