What does a trade union do to promote equality?

Students: Equality Guide, banner challenge and event support

TEK has published an Equality Guide to support student organisations in their work and helps them organise events, such as rainbow seminars for students. TEK has also challenged student organisations in the field of technology to engage in safer activities, and those who have joined the initiative have received TEK’s All Are Welcome Here banner.

Taskinen took part in the Helsinki Pride Parade last year with TEK.

“TEK was recognised among the crowd watching the parade. As we walked past a group of about five to ten people, they started chanting ‘Our TEK! Our TEK!’ to the rhythm of our march,” he says.

According to TEK’s Work life expert Sirkku Pohja, today’s students are building the future of working life. That is why it is important for TEK to support the equality work of student organisations.

Members: More approachable and equal services

Through its partnership with Helsinki Pride, TEK staff have received training, for example on allyship — how to act against discrimination even if you are not part of the minority being discriminated against.

According to Sirkku Pohja and Careers and communities expert Salli Joutsenoja, trainings and the knowledge and understanding they provide improve member interactions. The trainings enable those providing member services to better serve a diverse membership.

“We have received individual feedback from members that we are seen as more approachable thanks to our participation in Helsinki Pride. We have gained visibility in Pride’s channels, showing that we exist and stand for equality — you can also contact us on equality-related issues in working life,” says Pohja.

“We have also received praise from other unions and inquiries about our long-standing cooperation with Helsinki Pride,” adds TEK’s Research manager Susanna Bairoh.

“We share what we have learned with employee representatives for use in workplaces, as well as with student organisations. Of course, we are not finished ourselves, but we want to learn more,” Pohja says.

TEK has introduced principles of safer space to ensure that everyone attending its events has a positive experience regardless of gender, sexual orientation or ethnicity for example. These principles provide shared guidelines for respecting others.

Society: Impactful research

“TEK studies equality in the field. In order for us and others to address problems and fix them, we first need to understand the current situation and identify the issues,” says Susanna Bairoh.

She says that TEK conducts regular surveys that allow it to monitor, for example, salary development and whether progress is equitable. In the TEK Studen Survey, TEK examines guild and student organisation culture and the sense of belonging also from the perspectives of language, gender and sexual minorities. According to the most recent results, students feel a sense of belonging in their guild regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

In addition, TEK carries out thematic studies that deepen understanding of specific topics.

“For example, we have asked employee representatives about equality plans in their workplaces and studied sexual harassment in workplaces of highly educated professionals,” Bairoh says.

Research findings on equality topics have been compiled here.

“Our research also guides our advocacy work,” Bairoh adds.

In its 2027 parliamentary election objectives, TEK aims, for example, to reduce gender pay gaps by developing the family leave system and to address age discrimination in working life. TEK has studied both issues.

In 2022, TEK became the first trade union to receive Seta’s "Apple of Good Information" award (Asiallisen tiedon omena) for its work promoting the visibility and equality of sexual and gender minorities.

Work life: Training for employee representatives and a collective agreement project

“TEK trains employee representatives and promotes equality in collective agreements. We want to build an equal working life, which is why we are involved in many initiatives. We stand with the rainbow community,” says Sirkku Pohja.

Since 2023, TEK has provided training on equality for employee representatives, with more sessions continuing in the autumn. Representatives have learned, for example, how to draft equality plans at workplaces and how to monitor and report on the goals set in them together with the employer. Participants also receive self-study materials to support their work.

“Employee representatives have said our trainings have given them confidence in how to talk about equality issues at work,” Pohja says.

TEK is currently running a project with Helsinki Pride to promote more equal collective agreements.

“The aim of this project is, for example, to ensure that future collective agreements take different family forms into account equally. Before this project, we have negotiated for example longer paid family leave for the non-birthing parent into our members’ agreements.”