Two facts related to TEK’s membership. First, a growing number of our members are international, with over 2 000 full members listing a non-Finnish nationality. Second, the TEK council is the elected body that represents the voices and interests of all TEK members.
Neither fact will change, so a question arises. Can we have a council that represents also international members, if the council is only able to function in Finnish or Swedish? If someone can be elected, but cannot meaningfully contribute the views they were elected for, hasn’t the council proved to be unable to serve its core purpose? Council activity doesn’t just require moderate language skills; it requires detailed and long discussion of high-level, complex topics.
Those are not skills that can just be “improved after election”, nor should the primary responsibility be on the elected international council member to do so. This is a problem we must address, and address now. With the council election already in March, we don’t have time to yet enact all the measures needed. A part of addressing the problem must then be in a long-term plan, one that assures international members that running is worth it because your contribution will be heard and valued.
The solution must also be deeper than surface level. Individual access to translation technology, allowing occasional speeches in English – those are a part of the solution, but the action must be deeper. We need this ingrained in the core of our union.
TEK needs a language policy governing our actions. Companies and associations across Finland already have one; in this, TEK is lagging behind those we aim to tell good practices to. Based on the percentage of TEK full members who are international, a representative council would have three international councilors. To achieve that, we also need action from our international members, whether in running or voting.
At time of publishing, there is still time to apply for the council until 9th February. Check the material available about the council’s work, then if it sounds interesting contact a council group or establish an electoral alliance. The information and instructions for both are available on TEK’s website. Voting will take place in mid-late March, so check your email then. A TEK council that represents our member diversity, whether in youth, gender, internationality or anything else, is a better council for TEK. We need to do all we can to make sure diverse members are able to run, and that they are included when elected.
Writer is the chair of the TEK's Group for International Experts.