New president of union federation elected

The Chair of the Union of Professional Engineers, Matti Viljanen, has been chosen as the new President of the Confederation of Unions for Academic Professionals (AKAVA). Mr Viljanen was unanimously elected after the other three nominated candidates withdrew from the selection process. Creating a community spirit among affiliated unions of AKAVA in the coming four-year period has cited by the in-coming President as one of the most importiant challenges facing the union.

The Chair of the Union of Professional Engineers (Uusi Insinööriliitto, UIL), Matti Viljanen, has been chosen as the new President of the Confederation of Unions for Academic Professionals (Akateemisten Toimihenkilöiden Keskusjärjestö, AKAVA). Since Mr Viljanen appeared to have the majority of union representatives on his side, the other three candidates withdrew from the selection process before the planned election at the union meeting on 29 May 2007. Mr Viljanen was thus elected by popular acclaim.

Welcome of new president

Mr Viljanen emphasised that the unanimous election gives him great force for his mandate and is an extremely good start to defend AKAVA’s claims. He stated that one of the most important tasks in the coming four-year period is the creation of a strong community spirit among the trade unions affiliated to AKAVA. Moreover, he believes that the upcoming negotiation round for new sectoral collective agreements will be difficult and that clear objectives should be determined so that all of the confederation’s member unions can recognise these as their own orientations.

At the AKAVA union meeting, Mr Viljanen was praised with regard to his considerable and long experience as a trade union member, as well as for his highly-valuable skills as a team player. Behind his nickname ‘Hiljanen Viljanen’, which characterises Mr Viljanen as a rather silent and tacit person, hides a quick-witted and purposeful trade union leader. His predecessor, Risto Piekka, was known for his temperate behaviour.

From 1981 to 1989, Mr Viljanen was a representative of the former AKAVA-affiliated Union of Professional Engineers (Insinööriliitto, IL) and from 1990 to 2007 was the union’s Chair. In 2007, he became Chair of UIL (FI0612029I) as a result of the merger between IL and the Confederation of Municipal Employees in Technical Professions (Kuntien Tekniset, KTK), affiliated to the Finnish Confederation of Salaried Employees (Toimihenkilökeskusjärjestö, STTK). Mr Viljanen has also held the positions of Chair and Vice-Chair of the Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff (Ylempien Toimihenkilöiden Neuvottelujärjestö, YTN) which is AKAVA’s collective bargaining organisation operating in the private sector.

Outgoing president’s farewell

The former President of AKAVA, Risto Piekka, highlighted in his final address the importance of education and consolidation to ensure the competitiveness of Finnish companies. Mr Piekka thanked the new government for its educational policy, which allowed AKAVA to interact better with the current government than with previous ones. One of his most important personal achievements, he considered, was the national incomes policy agreements which have provided higher than average pay increases to members of the confederation.

As President of the confederation since 1999, Mr Piekka at first intended to stand again for a third term of office; he renounced, however, when four influential affiliated unions of AKAVA nominated their own candidates for the post (FI0704029I). At the AKAVA union meeting, Mr Piekka was recognised as the leader who succeeded in increasing union membership and thus strengthening the confederation.

Pertti Jokivuori, Statistics Finland