Service Union United PAM

Service Union United PAM wants to improve the living, job security and quality of life of its members.

Service Union United PAM is a union for employees working in the private service sector. PAM is the second largest union in Finland with more than 200 000 members, of which 80% are women. Most of the members work in retail shops, hotels, restaurants, cleaning and property services and as guards. PAM is a member of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK.

PAM negotiates collective agreements for its members and safeguards their interests at work. In Finland, nearly every sector is covered by generally binding collective agreements, which means that the agreed stipulations must be followed in working life, even if the employee or the employer is not organized.

PAM is an expert in helping members in work-related problems, and PAM also represents its members in many decision-making bodies in society. In order to have an impact on decision-making, PAM must act together with other actors. As a whole, PAM's task is to promote democracy, justice, equality and social security.

Founded 28.11.2000
Members 31.12.2008: 213 380
Locals: 221
Shop stewards approximately 5 000
Main sectors
- retail and wholesale trade
- hotel and restaurant sector
- cleaning and property services sector
- pharmacies
- hairdressers
- guards
- special sectors
- supervisors
Nearly 50 collective agreements + several memorandums
Presidents
- Mrs. Ann Selin, President
- Mr. Anssi Vuorio, First Vice President
- Mr. Kaarlo Julkunen, Second Vice President
Personnel
- 112 in main office
- 86 in regional offices
- 80 in the unemployment fund (of which 18 in the regional offices)
16 regional offices in
- Helsinki
- Turku
- Pori
- Tampere
- Hämeenlinna
- Jyväskylä
- Kouvola
- Lahti
- Kuopio
- Joensuu
- Mikkeli
- Vaasa
- Kokkola
- Oulu
- Kajaani
- Rovaniemi
Membership fee 1.5% (2009)
The Representative Assembly, 120 delegates, 4 chairmen, elected for 4 years
Union Board, the union president, two vice presidents and 20 board members + 4 general deputy members
Member statistics:
Of the total number of members
- 80 % are women
- 25 % under 30 years
- 60 % in commerce
- 25 % in hotels or restaurants
- 15 % elsewhere
- 2.365 members who speak other than Finnish, Swedish or Sámi as their mother tongue
Percentage organized:
- commerce 65%
- hotels and restaurants 70%
- cleaning and property services 55%
- guards 60%

PAM internationally

Representation of labour rights starts outside the borders of Finland. As a response to the increasing internationalisation of the economy and enterprises, the role of trade unions is becoming increasingly international. PAM has active co-operation with Nordic, European and multinational organisations.

For more and more members of Service Union United PAM, the employer is a multinational company. Therefore, acting together with workers in different countries is important for all. PAM supports this co-operation by giving training to its members.

PAM works together with other unions, sharing know-how and expertise in representing the interests of members. The aim is to focus on best practices in the labour market and deal with factors that undermine workers’ rights.

The labour market in Finland is more and more integrated into the European market. PAM is committed to co-operating with other unions in Europe, in order to develop working relations and working life together with the EU and the employers’ unions. For us, it is of utmost importance that workers’ rights are not neglected.

PAM supports the organisation of members in other countries. There are various ways of supporting our sister unions in regions beyond the Finnish borders or in developing countries. Organizing opens the road to decent work with decent salary. One part of our work is to defend workers’ rights all over the world, for the benefit of all of us.

PAM
Main office
Paasivuorenkatu 4-6 A
00530 Helsinki

Switchboard 020 774 002
Membership advice 020 774 2000
Unemployment benefit advice 020 690 211
Employment terms advice 020 774 2020
pam@pam.fi

Regional offices
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