NOW OVER 3,000 COMPANIES—AND MANY OF THEM MICROSCOPIC

Auli Korhonen describes the restructuring of the industry, which has been one of the most extensive in Finland and which has led to a steep decline in the membership of the Union:

– During the 1980's, Finland exported a great many textiles and garments to what was then the Soviet Union, in exchange for the importation by Finland of oil, and this arrangement provided a great deal of work for the Finnish clothing industry. In addition to this, Swedish textile manufacturers had moved into Finland, for the reason that, at that time, Finnish labour costs were lower than those which were applicable in Sweden. When all this changed, the structure of the whole industry changed with it, and the subsequent recession finally finished it off.

– Companies have been divided into smaller units and new miniscule companies have been created in the textile and clothing sector. These companies may employ less than five workers and quite often only employ one. At the same time larger companies, which at one time employed possibly one thousand workers, have ceased trading or have seen a significant reduction in their order books. At the same time some of these hitherto employed people have adopted self-employed status. There are at present approximately 3000 companies in the textile and clothing sector.

The current membership of the Union is some 18,000 members, whereas during the boom years the membership was approaching 50,000. Where are they now?

– Members have changed direction and having attended retraining courses have taken work in other sectors of industry, says Auli Korhonen.

–- Many members have attended training courses which have led to qualifications for working within the social services. It must be remembered that 86 per cent of our Union members are female. Some who were previously employed in the textile industry now work, for example, as home helps or as personal assistants to the elderly. Others have switched to a different sector of manufacturing, and of course there are those who have now reached pensionable age after many years of unemployment. There are also hundreds of people who are just waiting to reach pensionable age.

Another regret felt by Auli Korhonen, as the new Chair, is that the trade union skills and the knowledge of so many activists is no longer available to the Union, many of these having now become self-employed.

– This is a great loss to the trade union movement as a whole, though its significance is not necessarily always appreciated.

The textile and clothing industry is rather special, in that, despite all the drawbacks, it continues to interest new people. Each year about 1,300 students, most of them girls, begin studies in textiles and clothing related subjects. Education in these is also available at university level.

– The textile and clothing sector is fascinating, but it does not offer jobs, says Auli Korhonen regretfully.

Early EU Membership for Estonia

Auli Korhonen would like to see Estonia as a member of the EU sooner rather than later. There are 5 or 6 multinational companies in the textile and clothing sector and the current key aim of the Union is to negotiate European Works Council agreements with these companies. Once Estonia has become a member of the EU, a much greater number of textile companies will be covered by the regulations of the EWC Directive, points out Auli Korhonen.

Cooperation with the Estonian textile and clothing industry union, in other matters, is somewhat restricted by a lack of resources. Unionisation in Estonia has been rather lacklustre in every sector of industry during the recent few years. The unions have limited funds and thus have only modest resources for any activities.

– We have joint training projects, of course, but we cannot influence the way in which they represent the interests of their members. We hope that the EU will eventually help with some new driving force in this respect. In addition, we hope that workers in Estonia will start to unionise and that there will be an improvement in the level of their wages. We should not forget the proximity of the two countries.

The international dimension

The Finnish Textile and Garment Workers' Union participates on the Nordic level of the Confederation of Industrial Unions. The Nordic countries resemble each other in many aspects and therefore there are similarities in the activities of the textile and clothing industry unions. The unions have, for example, run a consumer campaign in all of the Nordic countries. Ethical guidelines, and the possibilities for publicising these, were discussed in depth during a seminar in Sweden. A similar seminar will take place in Finland later this year. The Nordic countries will jointly host the conference of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation, ITGLWF, which will be hosted in Sweden next summer, Auli Korhonen says.

– The inclusion of a social clause in the regulations of the World Trade Organisation, WTO, has been a long standing goal of ITGLWF. The basic rights of workers, the right to join a union and the right to collective agreements, for every worker in every country, are other aims which we cherish. We are also aiming for the prohibition of both slave labour and child labour. In addition to our participation in ITGLWF we are active in our European federation ETUF:TCL.