Trade union density is traditionally high in the Nordic countries and one of the aims of this recruitment campaign is to ensure that it continues to be high in Finland in the future. To this end it is important that young people will see the usefulness of joining a union. However, we will not succeed in this without radically changing some of the ways in which trade unions have previously operated.

There are currently several SAK working groups which are examining new ways which could be applied to the recruitment of new members and which are also looking at methods of improving the services which are offered to the existing membership. The target which has been set, for the first six months of next year, is the recruitment of 10,000 new members to the various SAK affiliated unions. This figure is based on the fact that on the labour market there are some 200,000 employees, under the age of 35, who do not belong to any trade union. Most of them live and work in the larger cities and in the greater Helsinki area. For this reason the recruitment campaign 'Moving Forward!' will be mainly focused on these locations.

However, the campaign is not self-propelled and it cannot be conducted solely from the SAK head office. Therefore the union branches, the regional offices, the SAK regional membership service centres and the local organisations all have a key role to play in the campaign. We need to activate every member of each SAK union into demonstrating, at their workplace, the benefits of holding union membership.

Joining a union via the Internet

In order to be able to reach the campaign goals, joining a union must be simplified. A more efficient and a more personal approach is needed. Good results have been achieved with just such an approach in, for example, Great Britain, Holland and Denmark.

A variety of material, for example in order to provide information on membership benefits, is being currently prepared by SAK for the use of workplace recruitment teams.

The simplification and the harmonisation of the various methods of joining the different trade unions are one of the key elements of the campaign. Joining a union should be possible by simply filling in a form, for example by means of the Internet.

Information to be offered on the Internet will facilitate both finding the right union and joining it. Such an information tool is currently being built. It will first be tested and if everything goes according to plan, it will be available on the Internet in the New Year.

There is also to be a single, joint membership card for the members of SAK affiliated unions. The decision to launch this type of card was made during the June meeting of the SAK Administrative Council. The technical details of the card are still in the process of development. It has not yet been decided which benefits the card will cover. In principle, it could even contain a credit card facility.