JHL’s Union Council has decided that JHL will remain a member of SAK

Trade Union JHL’s Union Council has decided in its extraordinary meeting on 17 January 2024 that the union will not start looking into detaching itself from the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK.

The Union Council, Trade Union JHL’s highest executive body, decided that JHL will remain a member of SAK. In the Union Council’s opinion, the situation has changed so much after November that there is no longer a need for a detachment investigation. JHL now also has its own representative involved in the talks regarding the labour market and pay model. In addition, the union’s views on the central organisation’s goal-setting documents related to further developing the labour market system have been taken into account better than before.

– Throughout this time, I’ve been arguing in favour of us making a difference at the tables where matters affecting the labour market position of union members are processed. For that reason, we’ve aimed to re-open a dialogue with SAK and its other member unions after the situation became a crisis. At first, we had to calm things down and talk openly about the situation. This is what we’ve done, and we’ve succeeded with our goals. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the representatives of SAK and various unions of the central organisation for a constructive dialogue, JHL’s Interim President Håkan Ekström comments.

– It’s obvious that we will also in the future face challenging situations, but we must solve them at the right time and with patience. In my opinion, we can after this Union Council decision very well continue as a part of the SAK-affiliated movement, Ekström states.

The background of the case lies in a dispute with central organisation SAK on a labour market and pay model, and representation in the talks regarding it. In November 2023, JHL’s Executive Committee decided to launch an investigation into a possible detachment from SAK, and deciding about the investigation became a matter for JHL’s Union Council.

The Union Council consists of members of the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL and wields the highest decision-making power in the union. The Union Council has 120 elected representatives. JHL’s Executive Committee executes the Union Council’s decisions.

More information:
JHL’s Interim President Håkan Ekström, tel. 040 828 2865

Union Council Chair Eija Paananen, tel. 050 401 3884