The European Union affects the Finnish legislation on working life

Legislation or changes to agreements regulating work in Finland are often made because the European Union (EU) prepares a new agreement related to labour. After the EU adopts the agreement, the work is continued in the Member States. In Finland, SAK and the other trade union confederations and employers’ confederations participate in this work.

European labour-market-related confederations have the power to negotiate and agree on matters proposed by the European Commission. If an agreement is reached, the content of the agreement can be adopted by an EU Directive.

This cooperation and negotiations between the confederations is called social dialogue. Agreements formed in social dialogue are available on SAK’s working life page.

The Finnish trade union confederations have representatives in the European Economic and Social Committee and the Advisory Committee on Health and Safety at Work. The European Economic and Social Committee advises EU policymakers in matters such as working life. The Advisory Committee on Health and Safety at Work has influence in the EU’s legislative work.

FinUnions represents Finnish employees and trade unions in the EU

SAK and STTK have a joint representative body in Brussels, FinUnions. FinUnions is tasked with safeguarding the interests of Finnish employees and informing Finnish organisations about the activities and decisions of the EU.

FinUnions keeps an eye on labour market issues in EU institutions in cooperation with the confederations and trade unions representing Finnish employees. FinUnions also cooperates with the European labour movement umbrella organisation ETUC.

International employee organisations

International employee organisations include:

SAK is a member of all of these international organisations together with some of the other Finnish trade union confederations.

The International Labour Organisation ILO

The International Labour Organisation ILO promotes social fairness and human rights in labour and improves the position and working conditions of employees all over the world. It also develops international labour standards.

ILO is the only tripartite organisation of the United Nations (UN). In addition to the governments of the UN members, representatives of employees and employers from different countries take part in ILO’s decision-making. Finland is one of the member states of ILO.

ILO’s agreements and recommendations form a set of international labour standards. This means they are the baseline for all labour legislation in Finland as well. ILO has approved a total of around 400 agreements and recommendations. Finland has adopted or ratified around 100 of these agreements. ILO’s agreements have had a significant impact on Finnish labour legislation.

ILO has defined a set of fundamental labour rights that form the basis of international standards of working life. These fundamental rights are the freedom of association, the elimination of forced labour, the abolition of child labour, and the elimination of discrimination.

Are you interested in participating in international policymaking?

You can influence labour and human rights worldwide. We can all exert influence in social media and various networks, and participate in projects and events together with non-governmental organisations.

The Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland SASK

You can also effect change via the The Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland SASK. SASK is a development cooperation organisation of Finnish trade unions. It contributes to the improvement of human rights globally and to reducing poverty, child labour, forced labour, and other labour related issues. The aim of SASK’s work is to ensure a sufficient income for everyone.

SASK cooperates with trade unions in various countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. SASK supports and promotes trade unions in different countries so that they can improve the status of their members.

Finnish trade unions – possibly your trade union as well – support the work of SASK. SASK’s operations can be supported and participated in by everyone interested in human rights and the opportunity to effect change. For example, you can join SASK as a support member (in Finnish) or learn more about SASK’s work as a SASK ambassador (in Finnish).