Tekijä (16.08.2023 - Heikki Jokinen) Do the union development projects have real, concrete results? Are they really improving working peoples' life?
The answer is yes. In March, three Finnish researchers published a three-year study of the Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland SASK project in Mozambique. SASK supported five local trade unions to organise training for employees and their representatives. These unions also covered the industry work.
The researchers compared working places where the training was given with those without it. The results of the study were clear. Even short two days training did help to improve terms of work.
The study indicates that the trained group had a slight increase in salaries, while those without training had a loss in salaries. Furthermore, the trained workers had an increase in the number of paid hours worked as they worked less non-paid hours.
Their pay also rose. This did not happen at the workplaces without training.
At the workplaces with training, the unions were keeping their members. At the workplaces without training, the share of union members dropped.
Union training focused on labour rights and negotiation skills. Better knowledge of these gave self-confidence and influenced positively the terms of work.