The European Union plays a central role

An increasing part of the legislation related to the working life of Finns comes from the European Union. Successful lobbying requires regular contact with MEPs and direct influence on the Commission. 

The European Union’s labor law directives address issues such as working hours, safe working conditions, atypical employment relationships, and the right to parental leave. The directives on employee information, consultation, and involvement are of particular importance, especially in international companies and when there are cross-border changes in companies. Relevant bodies include European Works Councils (EWCs). The concept of corporate responsibility, which has a significant impact on companies operating in Finland and thereby on employees, also originates from Europe. 

Nordic cooperation 

Finland is a small country on the European scale, so close cooperation with other Nordic countries is important in terms of opportunities for influence. Nordic-IN is the most important forum for influencing the Nordic IT service sector. Its working groups deal with collective agreements, labor market situations in the countries, equality issues, and employees’ rights to be informed, consulted, and involved. 

In Nordic cooperation, the Union of Professional Engineers in Finland is involved in the Association of Nordic Engineers ANE through Engineers Finland. ANE draws up common lobbying objectives. The goals prepared through Nordic cooperation are pursued in several international forums. 

Through Nording, which brings together the Nordic and Baltic engineering associations, a guest membership model has been achieved between the Nordic unions, for example.Thanks to the visitor model, an employee moving to work in another Nordic country can become a guest member of a local engineer union free of charge. 

In addition to the Nordic cooperation forums, the Union of Professional Engineers in Finland cooperates and influences, among other things, the private industry sector’s Europe-wide IndustriAll Europe, the global IndustriAll Global  and the service sector-wide UNI Europa.