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14 December, 2009
Industrial Union TEAM is the new name, effective on 1 January 2010, of the merged Chemical Workers’ Union (Kemianliito), an ICEM affiliate, and the Finnish Media Union. The merger of the two is the product of a larger, six-union merger of Finnish industrial unions that failed to materialize in spring 2009.
Kemianliitto and the Media Union, which represents workers in the graphical, print, and print delivery sections, committed to continue union merger talks following the breakdown of the larger merger. By the end of summer holidays, 2009, committees and an organizational structure were in place to complete to merger.
On 13 November, an extraordinary Congress of the Media Union approved the merger, while on 26-27 November, the General Council of Kemianliitto gave its consent. Kemianliitto President Timo Vallittu will lead Industrial Union TEAM, and the merged union will have a 20-member governing body.
The merged union numbers 68,000, a figure that includes retirees. Kemianliitto comes in to the merger with some 31,000 active members, while the Media Union brings 14,000.
The larger Finnish industrial merger, in talks dating back two years, was proposed between Kemianliitto and the Media Union, as well as including ICEM-affiliated Electrical Workers’ Union, the Finnish Metalworkers Union, the Wood and Allied Workers’ Union, and the Finnish Railwaymen’s Union. In spring 2009, the Electrical Workers’ dropped from talks, while a short time later the Metalworkers’ withdrew from participating by action of its Congress.