Trade unions look to cooperative effort

The Estonian Trade Unions’ Confederation (ETUC) has begun talks with the Finnish Trade Union for Construction Workers to create a joint organization to provide Estonian construction workers similar help as the Finns offer, Viljandi county newspaper Sakala reports.

ETUC’s chairman Peep Peterson explained that the discussion is in the initial stage and progress can be expected by the autumn, but he confirmed that ETUC has really started to look for contacts that would help create a trade union with considerable influence and a good services package.
Peterson said that several major branches of labor are not covered by trade unions in Estonia, pointing to the banking and construction sectors.

Peterson said that it would be a major advantage if the joint union of Estonian and Finnish construction workers could be formed since thus, the legal aid and support of different funds could become quickly accessible to Estonian construction workers.

He said that a factor making it easier for the joint trade union to start working is that many Estonian construction workers already work in Finland and world practices have shown that the integration of labor markets of states that work together in a trade union plays a critical role in that trade union’s success.