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13 December, 2010
An ICEM affiliate in Finland, the Salaried Workers’ Union, or Toimihenkilöunioni (TU), completed a merger on Saturday, 11 December, with Suora and effective 1 January will become the 130,000-member union called Pro, a union for salaried workers in the private sector.
TU covers some 250 member associations across Finland, and negotiates 47 collective agreements, while Suora represents workers in the finance and insurance industries, as well as white-collar workers in the gaming business and alcohol trades.
Antti Rinne and Riitta Suonpää Sign the Merger Document, Creating Pro
Rank-and-file members work in a multitude of sectors as salaried employees, hourly paid employees, foremen or supervisors, and in expert jobs. The new union will organize self-employed professionals as well.
Antti Rinne, the President of the TU, was unanimously elected President of Pro. A 48-year-old lawyer, Rinne describes the current situation among Finnish trade unions as “the most critical period in history.”
Suora’s President, Riitta Suonpää, will become the new union’s First Vice President, while Juha Kivistö was elected Second Vice President.
The new union’s website can be found here.