Thursday 13.11.
11.30 Lunch
12.15 TEK's CEO Jari Jokinen opens the meeting
12.30 Council arena
The theme this time was ownership, wealth and equality in Finland. The speaker was Samuli Knüpfer, Professor of Ownership at Aalto University.
After the keynote, Henrik Muukkonen, editor-in-chief of TEK magazine, led a panel for the council groups. The panellists were Mikko Viilo (Vihreät, The Greens), Sini Piiparinen (TEKin Nuoret, TEK Youth), Juha Korpijärvi (iTyö, iWork), Olli-Pekka Nyman (Sosialidemokraatit, Social Democrats), Tero Arvonen (Kokoomus, National Coalition Party), Noora Laak (Vasemmisto, Left Alliance), Mikko J. Salminen (Yhtenäisyys ja Teekkarihenki, Unity and Teekkari spirit), Matti Aula (Keskusta, Centre Party) and Joona Lipponen (students' council group).
The closing remarks were made by Arto Timperi, Chair of TEK's Boars.
14.35 Coffee break
15.00 The official meeting started
Organisation, quorum and agenda established
- Chair of the Board: Arto Timperi reported, among other things, that the number of members had exceeded 85,000 and reminded the council of the forthcoming election year. The current council will continue until September and the committees until the end of next year.
- CEO: Jari Jokinen presented the statistics on members and the use of services. For example, this year more full members have used the services provided by TEK. Student recruitment has once again set a record, with over 5,400 new student members joining this year.
- Labour Market Director: Teemu Hankamäki reported, among other things, that unemployment growth has slowed, but long-term unemployment is on the rise. In many sectors, the salary increases agreed in the spring are now being implemented.
Statutory matters
- Presentation of the 2026 action plan. 2026 TEK will focus on growth through marketing and investing in data quality, among other things.
- Presentation of the 2026 budget: Panu Lavonen, CFO, reported that the budget follows the basis of previous years, also including the council elections and the implementation of the member vision work started this autumn. TEK's membership fee will otherwise remain unchanged, but KOKO's membership fee will increase by EUR 6 to EUR 69 (previously EUR 63).
- Council elections 2026. The election committee president, Esko Korhonen, presented and the council decided on the election schedule and division of council places to electoral areas. Iitti is moved to the western constituency. For the first time, only electronic voting will be used in TEK's elections.
- Presentation of the Datax project
17.30 The meeting closed for the day
17.30 Council groups' own meetings
19.00 Dinner
Friday 14.11.
8.00 Council groups' own meetings
9.30 The meeting continued from where we left off yesterday
The board responded to the initiatives taken at the spring meeting.
- Strengthen the role of the chairman of the council, give the chairman the right to attend board meetings (Kaarin Taipale, Sosialidemokraatit and Noora Laak, Vasemmisto)
- Board’s response: The board considers improving the flow of information important, especially in preparing council meetings. Therefore, the council chair can in the future be invited to discussions on agenda items related to council meetings as well as to the Board’s annual planning seminars. In general, the council’s role is to oversee the Board’s activities, so closer involvement of the council chair in board work is not optimal from a governance perspective.
- Speeches were given on the topic. The council approved the response.
- TEKkis, a lighter version of the TEK Lounge, for the universities of Vaasa, Oulu, Eastern Finland and Jyväskylä (Kokoomus and Vaikuttava Vaasa)
- Board’s response: Low-threshold meeting spaces are important, and spaces in line with the initiative have already been implemented in Vaasa and partly in Otaniemi, where new offices opened late last spring. For Eastern Finland and Jyväskylä, the board notes that it is best to proceed cautiously with space acquisitions and gather experiences from existing Lounges before opening new ones. The Oulu Lounge will be addressed more thoroughly in the next initiative.
- The council approved the response.
- TEK Lounge for the University of Oulu (Marko Honkalampi, iTyö)
- Board’s response: The Board considers this matter important. TEK’s office has explored campus spaces, and suitable locations were identified in the spring 2025 survey, but none of these are currently available. Campus renovations are ongoing, and the search for a suitable location continues. For now, TEK’s regional office is located in Technopolis near the university.
- The council approved the response.
- Update of TEK's membership fee reduction policy, tiering of membership fee according to income (iTyö)
- Board’s response: In light of current unemployment statistics, the initiative is timely. The current discount policy is based on clarity: one is either eligible or not, and the discount amount is fixed. Income-based tiering would reduce membership fee revenue, creating pressure to raise fees. Additionally, implementing tiering would require significant and costly changes to current membership information systems.
- Speeches were given on the topic. The council approved the response.
- No juniors, no seniors: TEK should take bigger steps in media and influence companies to increase summer job and thesis opportunities (student representatives, TEK’s Young Members, Left Alliance, Greens)
- Board’s response: TEK’s most significant investment in student members’ employment is the Workbook, a guide for job hunting and career planning. Students are also offered salary advice and the salary surveyor tool. This autumn, TEK has studied the service needs of those nearing graduation and recent graduates. The results will be implemented in spring 2026, significantly increasing TEK’s support for early-career members. In addition, a research project is being planned to help understand how AI is changing junior-level jobs.
- Speeches were given on the topic. The council approved the response.
Board announcements
- Membership numbers and representativeness development, employment review
- TEK research updates (Research Director Susanna Bairoh)
- Updates from KOKO unemployment fund and Entrepreneur Fund
- Reports from themed committees
Initiatives submitted to the meeting
- TEK Lounge for both campuses of the University of Eastern Finland (Petro Julkunen (iTyö), Marko Honkalampi (iTyö))
- Updates to conflict-of-interest practices (Kokoomus)
- Preparing for the removal of tax deductibility of union membership fees (Kokoomus)
Questions to the board
- TEKin Nuoret asked the board about developing council work.
Announcements
- Council spring meeting: March 19–20.
Meeting adjourned
12.00 Lunch and meeting wrapped up! Until next time.
Are you a future councillor?
The TEK Council meets in a similar way from Thursday to Friday twice a year, with the autumn meeting usually in November and the spring meeting in March. In addition to these meetings, there is an organisational meeting in the first year of the term. The council groups also keep in touch between meetings and prepare for future meetings.
If you are interested, do run for office! You can ask, for example, existing council groups for their experience.