New merged unemplo­y­ment fund requires no action from members

From the begin­ning of January 2022, the Unemplo­y­ment Fund of Finnish Industrial Workers will amalga­mate with two other unemplo­y­ment funds.

17.11.2021

As a member of the Industrial Union and Unemplo­y­ment Fund you do not have to do anything. Your benefits remain the same.

All current members will automa­tically be trans­ferred to the newly merged fund. You can just relax and know that you will have good unemplo­y­ment security in the future, too.

The new fund is to be called the Open Unemplo­y­ment Fund A‑kassa, in daily language A‑kassa. The name reflects the main idea: the fund is open to all, regard­less of their profession.

This acces­si­bi­lity is because the new fund is the result of a merger. The two other funds to join are the one for construc­tion workers and Finka. The latter covers – among others – actors, musicians and journalists.

A‑kassa will have 190,000 members and become the third largest unemplo­y­ment fund in Finland. This is one of the reasons for the merger: It is firmly believed that A‑kassa will be able to deliver better service by joining forces, and also develop new services for members.

At the moment, there are 20 unemplo­y­ment funds for wage and salary earners and one for entrepre­neurs in Finland. This is due to many mergers that have taken place. In 2000 there were still 48 funds

Unemplo­y­ment funds are the backbone of Finnish unemplo­y­ment security.

Unemplo­y­ment funds are the backbone of Finnish unemplo­y­ment security. Since the year 1895, these funds have been mainly adminis­tered by trade unions.

Some two million people belong to unemplo­y­ment funds in Finland Membership is impor­tant, as it gives the right to an earnings-related allowance in case of unemplo­y­ment. This is signi­ficantly more than one would get without being a member of an unemplo­y­ment fund.

For example, for a person on a monthly salary of 2,700 euros, no kids and partici­pa­ting in an emplo­y­ment promo­tion measure the unemplo­y­ment fund allowance would be 81.27 euros a day. For a non-member a similar allowance paid by Kela, the Social Insurance Insti­tu­tion of Finland, would drop to 38.58 euros per day.

In 2020, out of all unemplo­y­ment fund members, on average, 24 per cent have been recei­ving unemplo­y­ment benefits, at least for some part of the year. For the industrial workers fund, the figure was higher, 38 per cent.

Last year, the total amount of allowances paid by the three now merging unemplo­y­ment funds was more than 421 million euros.

A‑kassa membership dues will be a fixed monthly amount. As it is now, the Industrial Union will collect and transfer dues to the new fund. Members do not have to worry about that in the future either.

TEXT HEIKKI JOKINEN