I’m waiting for the upcoming spring with anxiety. TEK’s elections are coming up, and it is time to elect new decision-makers for our union. Am I worried for my own position? No. What I am worried for is that the voice of under 40-year-olds is dwindling in this advocacy channel – among both the voters and the candidates.
Young people’s interest in party affairs and organisations has been decreasing for a long time. Political participation is conceived of as difficult to understand. Paradoxically, trust in institutions makes you passive. In addition, academic engineers have traditionally scorned political activity. Voting with one’s feet seems easier than voting for a candidate for the general council – not to mention becoming a candidate.
However, young people’s desire to make an impact has not disappeared. It has just become one-off activism for individual matters. When speed, a sense of community and impressiveness are offered, it is difficult for the stiff organisation world to distinguish itself positively with three-year general council seats or meetings on cruise ships.
Has TEK been brave enough to reform its management system to match this trend? Are the forums we provide places for a nice little chat or for truly meaningful advocacy? Could we be braver in implementing digital participation methods, for example, in the form of virtual general councils or in collecting working life-related insights from our members?
Even young people who want to make an impact need to face the facts: long-term advocacy means you need to build trust and understand the structures of decision-making. It is a long walk, not a short sprint. The reward is that you get to impact decisions that affect the entire country.
No step forward achieved in the working life is a given. The technological revolution, an upside-down population pyramid and the ecological crisis are challenging the future of our working life. It is difficult to get into the working life, careers are fragmented, it is more common to change careers – these are exactly the situations where unions are needed. When the public debate is a black-and-white discussion on increasing the retirement age, 30-year-olds have long been able to understand from their pension extracts that they should keep on working until they are at least 70 years old. These questions show that it is crucial to unite the views of different generations.
No organisation can keep understanding the reality of young people without active guidance. A union membership could be seen as an all-risk insurance for the working life. As a member of the general council, you get to say whether you want to insure a Mercedes-Benz or a Lada.
There is plenty of room here. Would you like to join us?
The author has a Master of Science in Engineering (biotechnology), works in the pharmaceutical industry and is a member of the TEK board.