This trade union branch sets a great example: in ten years its membership has grown from 900 to 1700. One third of the members have an immigrant background, and about half are under 40 years old. The branch board has four members with an immigrant background.
It is no wonder that the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK has recognised the work of JHL ry 141 with an award that is given to the socially impactful union branch of the year.
What is a union branch?
- Trade Union JHL is made up of branches, the Union Council, the Executive Committee, the central office, and regional offices.
- Individual members belong to branches, and the branches are members of JHL.
- JHL’s branches work to improve their members’ terms and conditions of employment and working conditions as well as their rights in society.
- Union branches also arrange leisure activities and training for their members.
- JHL funds the branches’ operation through a membership fee refund. The amount of the refund is 20 per cent of membership fees paid to the union.
We asked Abdulkadir Mohamud, who has been the chairperson of the branch for ten years, what their secret is.
“My predecessor Marja-Liisa Ylitolonen started goal-oriented work where people with an immigrant background and young people were seen as an asset.”
The branch started to systematically attract people with an immigrant background and young people. At the same time, it started purposeful organising work, which means marketing union membership in workplaces.
There was a lot of ground to cover, because the members of the branch work in more than three hundred workplaces.
JHL ry 141 operates in the Helsinki metropolitan area. It represents union members who work in the private social, health and educational sectors.
A phone call is far more effective than email
One of the grounds for SAK’s award was that the branch has organised several workplaces. The goal of union organising is that as many employees in the workplace as possible are members of their sector’s trade union.
The board of branch 141 has made rounds of phone calls to workplaces that have more than 20 JHL members. The callers have asked if the members are interested in becoming union representatives. They have also asked how union representation in the workplace is going.
“We have reached people much better by phone than by email”, Mohamud comments.
The branch has invited new employee representatives to an induction soon after their election. They have in turn brought new members and actives into the branch.
The employee representatives meet regularly to discuss representation of interests. The branch has created a material package for workplace visits for them and can also reimburse the expenses of those visits.
“People can be afraid of the trade union movement”
JHL and many other unions have made big efforts to attract young people to join the union. They are often difficult to reach because traditional brochures and events are not very effective with them.
Abdulkadir Mohamud says that convincing immigrants to join a trade union is even more difficult than convincing young people.
We have reached people much better by phone than by email.
Often the reason for this lies in their cultural background. Many come from a country where people lose their jobs for joining a trade union.
“Many may simply be afraid of getting involved in the trade union movement”, Mohamud explains.
Read more: A large number of people in Finland are afraid to join the union
A personal contact is particularly important for immigrants. That is why the branch board meets members in events, trainings, member evenings and member trips.
The branch organises regular webinars where a regional activities specialist from JHL speaks for example about collective agreements and answers questions about the working world.
The branch organises events as well. Members are encouraged to bring with them a co-worker who is not a union member yet. This makes the threshold for participating in trade union activities as low as possible. JHL ry 141 also has set an objective to have all important materials translated into English.
The regional immigrant network wants to get everybody involved
Abdulkadir Mohamud speaks highly of KaMuT, JHL’s regional immigrant network in Southern Finland. He says that KaMuT has played a crucial role in the branch’s success. The name KaMuT comes from the words kaikki mukaan toimintaan (everybody get involved).
Mohamud points out the importance of examples. Many are surprised to hear that there are people with an immigrant background in the branch board.
“They realise that our branch takes immigrants seriously.”
SAK granted the “Vuoden yhteiskunnallinen yritys” (socially impactful union branch of the year) award for the first time in November 2025. In future SAK is going to grant the award every year. The award is granted to a union branch that has successfully promoted employees’ rights and well-being and made their views heard in workplaces. The branch has furthermore been a channel that brings the members’ concerns and wishes to the attention of the general public and decision makers.
Regional immigrant networks around Finland
- Trade Union JHL has eight regional immigrant networks.
- The networks have been founded to make it easier for members with an immigrant background to get involved in union activities.
- The purpose of the networks is to improve the members’ access to information about the working world and employees’ rights.
- They also function as forums for discussing the trade union and current working life topics, as well as offer entertainment.
- If you would like to get involved in the immigrant networks’ activities, visit JHL’s website to find the network nearest to you.
- You can also join the Facebook group of JHL’s immigrant networks.
This article was translated from Finnish by Sirpa Venäläinen.
