Finnish Confederation of Professionals STTK - Constitution
Approved by Congress on 5th & 6th November 2009
1 §
1 The name of the organisation shall be Toimihenkilökeskusjärjestö STTK ry in Finnish, Tjänstemannacentralorganisationen STTK rf in Swedish and in English, the Finnish Confederation of Professionals STTK, hereinafter called 'the Confederation'.
2 The location of the principal office of the Confederation shall be Helsinki.
3 The languages of the Confederation shall be Finnish and Swedish. The registration language shall be Finnish and any minutes shall be taken in Finnish.
4 The activities of the Confederation shall be independent from, and not committed to, any political party.
Objectives and activities
2 §
1 The objective of the Confederation as the central trade union organisation of its affiliated unions shall be to improve both the material and the spiritual well-being of professional and salaried staff and to promote social equality.
3 §
1 In pursuance of its objectives the Confederation shall influence legislation and other societal decision-making, both nationally and internationally, and it shall participate in labour market negotiations as the representative of its affiliated unions. The Confederation may produce its own publications.
2 In order to support its activities, the Confederation may own properties and holiday resorts, run hotel and catering businesses, and with the relevant licence organise collections for funds and lotteries.
Membership
4 §
1 Any trade union which operates in Finland and which has been registered as a trade union representing groups of professional and salaried staff, and which furthermore accepts the objectives of the Confederation and which is committed to comply with the rules of the Confederation and with any agreements entered into by the Confederation and with any decisions made by the administrative organs of the Confederation, may be affiliated to the Confederation.
2 Membership application shall be made in writing and submitted to the Executive Committee of the Confederation which shall decide upon admission to the membership.
5 §
1 Each affiliated union shall independently represent the interests of its membership whilst taking into account the rules stipulated in this constitution. No affiliated union shall do anything that may harm the Confederation or another affiliated union,
2 In addition to any requirements which have been stated elsewhere in this constitution an affiliated union shall:
a) inform the Confederation of the number of its members in a manner and at a time which shall be specified by the Executive Committee of the Confederation;
b) inform the Confederation of the meetings of the highest decision-making bodies of the union and facilitate the attendance of the Chairman of the Confederation to such meetings;
c) submit annually an activities report and the audited accounts of the union to the Confederation;
d) supply the Confederation with any information which is required for research and statistics.
6 §
1 Each affiliated union shall independently conduct negotiations on its union-specific collective agreements and in a mutually agreed manner on joint agreements with other unions.
2 An affiliated union shall have the right to withdraw from any incomes policy agreement, or any other agreement which the Confederation has negotiated and signed, by informing the Executive Committee of the Confederation of this withdrawal within a period, which shall be set by the Executive Committee, of not less than 14 days.
3 An affiliated union must provide the Confederation with information on any notification of industrial action which the union has given. Should the affiliated union so wish, it may facilitate the participation of a representative of the Confederation in negotiations which are undertaken for the purpose of finding a solution to the dispute.
7 §
1 Each affiliated union shall pay to the Confederation an affiliation fee in accordance with the number of its paid-up members. The affiliation fee shall be for a complete calendar year or for a part of it. The amount of the affiliation fee shall be determined by the General Council.
2 The affiliation fee shall be payable in a manner and at a time specified by the General Council. The General Council shall have the right to charge interest on late payment of the affiliation fee.
3 The General Council shall have the right to set within any one calendar year an additional affiliation fee to be paid by the affiliated unions. Such additional affiliation fee shall not exceed the sum of the regular affiliation fee for six months.
4 Should an affiliated union have neglected to pay its affiliation fee, no representative elected from the members of the union shall have the right to vote within the General Council unless otherwise decided for a specific reason by the General Council.
8 §
1 An affiliated union may terminate its affiliation to the Confederation by giving notice as decreed by the Finnish Associations Act. The termination of affiliation shall come into force after six (6) months from the receipt of such notice. The rights and responsibilities of the affiliated union in respect of the Confederation shall cease from that date apart from the representation in the administrative bodies of the Confederation which shall cease immediately. Termination of affiliation shall not negate outstanding payments nor payments to which the affiliated union is committed for a set period.
9 §
1 An affiliated union which through its actions harms the operation of the Confederation, or which acts contrary to the purposes of the Confederation, or which does not comply with the rules of this constitution may have its affiliation to the Confederation terminated.
2 Should an affiliated union, without a reason accepted by the Executive Committee of the Confederation, fail to pay the Confederation when payment is due, the affiliation of the union to the Confederation may be terminated.
3 The termination of affiliation of a union shall be handled by, and decided upon, by the Executive Committee of the Confederation. Such affiliated union may submit an appeal to the General Council at their next meeting in respect of the decision made by the Executive Committee of the Confederation. The affiliated union must appeal in writing within 30 days from the date when they received information of the decision made by the Executive Committee of the Confederation.
General Council
10 §
1 The General Council shall have the highest mandate of decision making within the Confederation. Standing orders shall be confirmed for the procedure which is to be observed at a General Council meeting.
11 §
1 Sixty (60) primary members shall be elected to the General Council for the four year term from amongst the affiliated unions in relation to their numerical membership, however in such a way that each affiliated union shall have at least one (1) member in the General Council.
2 The calculation principle shall be based on the numerical membership which determined the amount of the affiliation fee which the affiliated union paid to the Confederation at the end of the calendar year preceding the relevant term of office of the General Council.
3 The Executive Committee of each affiliated union shall submit to the Confederation letters of appointment regarding their General Council primary members and general deputies, and shall inform the Confederation of the names and addresses of the members and general deputies in a manner and at a time which shall be set by the Executive Committee of the Confederation. At the same time information shall be given regarding the order in which the general deputies shall attend when a primary member is temporarily unable to be present.
No member of the General Council may also be a member of the Executive Committee.
4 In addition to the primary members elected to the General Council, twice as many general deputies (2 x) as primary members shall be elected from each affiliated union.
5 Should a union become affiliated to the Confederation during a General Council term of office, such union shall have the right to nominate one (1) primary member to the General Council and for this member two (2) deputies for the remaining term of office of the General Council. In this case the number of members of the General Council shall increase by one (1).
6 Any primary member and any general deputy member of the General Council must be a member of an affiliated union or a member of an affiliated association of the said union or an officer employed by the said union or association. Should the qualification, which was valid at the time of nomination cease, the General Council term of office shall terminate for such primary member or general deputy member. Should a primary member or a general deputy member of an affiliated union resign, retire or become permanently unable to attend for a reason the particulars of which the affiliated union has given, the union is entitled to nominate a new primary member or general deputy member for the remaining General Council term of office. The General Council shall acknowledge the commencement of membership and the order in which the general deputy members shall attend should a primary member be temporarily unable to be present.
7 The presence of no less than two thirds (2/3) of the members of the General Council shall establish a quorum.
12 §
1 The first ordinary meeting of the General Council term of office shall be called the General Council organisational meeting. In this meeting the General Council:
a) shall elect from amongst the members a chairman and a deputy chairman for the General Council term of office;
b) shall elect for the General Council term of office one (1) or two (2) auditors, and personal deputy auditors for them. The auditors and their deputies must be fully qualified and hold the Finnish qualifications KHT or HTM;
c) shall elect a chairman for the Executive Committee of the Confederation;
d) shall decide upon the number of the remainder of the primary members of the Executive Committee of the Confederation and elect these members and a personal deputy for each of them.
13 §
1 The ordinary meetings of the General Council shall consist of a spring meeting which shall be held in May at the latest, and of an autumn meeting which shall be held in December at the latest.
2 The Executive Committee of the Confederation shall decide on the convening of an ordinary meeting of the General Council. The Executive Committee shall send an invitation to each meeting in writing or electronically to each member of the General Council and to each affiliated union no later than one (1) month prior to the meeting.
3 Any matter which an affiliated union of the Confederation wishes to be discussed during an ordinary meeting of the General Council must be presented in writing or electronically to the Executive Committee of the Confederation no later than one (1) month prior to the meeting.
4 The agenda of an ordinary meeting of the General Council must be sent to the members of the General Council and the affiliated unions no later than two (2) weeks prior to the meeting.
14 §
1 The following matters shall be dealt with at the General Council spring meeting:
a) the annual report for the previous year drawn up by the Executive Committee of the Confederation; and
b) the accounts for the previous year, the auditors' report and any clarifications of these provided by the Executive Committee of the Confederation; the adoption of the annual accounts and the discharging of the Executive Committee of the Confederation, and all others who are held accountable, from liability for the accounts, and any other business.
15 §
1 The following matters shall be agreed at the General Council autumn meeting:
a) the Confederation's plan of activities for the next year of operation;
b) the budget for the following year;
c) the amount of the affiliation fee for the following year, the payment periods and dates; and
d) the remuneration for attending meetings for the chairman, the deputy chairman and the members of the Executive Committee of the Confederation, and the auditors' fees.
16 §
1 An extraordinary meeting of the General Council shall be convened by the Executive Committee.
2 In addition, an extraordinary meeting of the General Council must be convened
a) should one third (1/3) of the affiliated unions, or should two or more affiliated unions whose paid-up membership constitutes not less than one third (1/3) of the total number of paid-up members of the unions affiliated to the Confederation
or
b) should not less than one third (1/3) of the members of the General Council
request in writing that the Executive Committee of the Confederation convenes an extraordinary meeting for the purpose of dealing with a matter which has been announced.
3 An extraordinary meeting of the General Council shall be convened by delivering a personal invitation in writing to each member of the General Council no later than three (3) days prior to the meeting.
4 An extraordinary meeting of the General Council must be held within one month from when a request which fulfils the criteria laid down in Clause Two above (2) has been received.
The Executive Committee of the Confederation
17 §
1 The Executive Committee of the Confederation shall consist in addition to the chairman of no less than seven (7) and no more than thirty (30) primary members. The Executive Committee term of office shall consist of the period between two consecutive General Council organisational meetings. The General Council shall elect the members for the Executive Committee from the representatives of the affiliated unions in relation to their numerical membership unless it is decided otherwise. The chairman and the deputy chairman of the General Council of the Confederation shall have the right to be present and to speak at the meetings of the Executive Committee.
2 Each member of the Executive Committee of the Confederation must be an active member of an affiliated union or of an affiliated association of the said union or an officer employed by the said union or association. Should the qualification, which was valid at the time of nomination cease, the Executive Committee term of office shall terminate for such member. Should any member of the Executive Committee of the Confederation be permanently unable to participate in the activities of the Executive Committee of the Confederation, retire or leave prior to the expiry of the term of office, the General Council shall have the right to elect a new member.
3 The Executive Committee of the Confederation shall elect four deputy chairmen from the members of the Committee. The Executive Committee of the Confederation shall decide upon the order in which each deputy chairman will take the chair on behalf of the chairman when the chairman is unable to attend.
4 The Executive Committee of the Confederation shall be convened by the chairman. The presence of a chairman and of no less than one half (1/2) of the other members of the Executive Committee shall establish a quorum. An invitation and an agenda shall be sent to each member no later than one week prior to a meeting. In urgent circumstances an invitation to a meeting may be sent at shorter notice than that which is stipulated above.
18 §
1 The Executive Committee of the Confederation shall be responsible for the activities of the Confederation. Therefore the Executive Committee of the Confederation:
a) shall represent the Confederation;
b) shall prepare the matters which are to be considered at a General Council meeting, and shall implement any decisions that have been made;
c) shall decide upon whether to accept negotiation results which have been achieved through collective negotiations on a confederation level;
d) shall manage the funds and property of the Confederation, and shall ensure that the book-keeping and the preparation of annual financial statements takes place;
e) shall liaise with the affiliated unions and with national and international organisations;
f) shall employ and dismiss officers of the Confederation;
g) shall be authorised to make decisions to sell, exchange, pledge and mortgage the property of the Confederation; and
h) shall deal with any other matters which concern the Confederation.
Steering Committee
19 §
1 The chairman and the deputy chairmen of the Confederation together with three members of the Executive Committee of the Confederation whom the Committee have elected from the Committee members shall form a Steering Committee. The Steering Committee may prepare any matters which fall within the remit of the Executive Committee of the Confederation and deal with matters which the Executive Committee of the Confederation has delegated to the Steering Committee.
2 The Steering Committee meetings shall be convened by the chairman.
20 §
1 It shall be the duty of the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Confederation, who is also to be known as the chairman of the Confederation:
a) to lead the activities of the Confederation in accordance with the rules herein and the decisions made by the Executive Committee of the Confederation;
b) to chair the meetings of the Executive Committee of the Confederation and of the Steering Committee, to open the organisational meeting of the General Council and to conduct the duties which have been stipulated by the rules herein in that context;
c) to convene the meetings of the Executive Committee of the Confederation in accordance with the rules herein.
2 Should the chairman of the Confederation leave or be permanently unable to attend, the deputy chairmen shall perform the duties of the chairman, in the order which has been decided upon by the Executive Committee of the Confederation, until the next General Council meeting. Should there be more than two (2) months remaining until the next ordinary meeting of the General Council since the commencement of the inability of the chairman to attend, the General Council should be immediately convened to an extraordinary meeting wherein a new chairman of the Confederation shall be elected.
Signing
21 §
1 Providing a signature on behalf of the Confederation shall be undertaken by the chairman of the Confederation, by the deputy chairmen of the Executive Committee of the Confederation and by officers who have been nominated for this duty by the Executive Committee of the Confederation, with two signatories signing concurrently, one signatory in each instance being a member of the Executive Committee of the Confederation.
The financial year
The accounts and the auditing of the accounts
22 §
1 The accounts of the Confederation shall be prepared annually at the end of the calendar year.
2 The annual financial statements must be prepared for presentation to the auditors by the end of March. The auditors must submit to the Executive Committee of the Confederation a report of the audit which has been addressed to the ordinary spring meeting of the General Council and which the auditors have conducted on the accounts, the administration and the assets, not less than two weeks prior to the meeting in which the financial statements shall be presented for adoption. Any comments and complaints which may result from the audit must be included in the report by the auditors.
3 Further details of the accounts and audit shall be specified in the financial rule adopted by the General Council. The Executive Committee of the Confederation may give more detailed instructions on this matter.
Special rules
Funds
23 §
1 The Confederation may administer funds. The General Council shall decide on the foundation of any funds and on the rules which shall govern such funds.
Winding up the Confederation
24 §
1 The winding up of the Confederation shall be based on a decision made by the General Council at an ordinary meeting on the condition that no less than three quarters (3/4) of the votes given shall favour such winding up.
2 Should the Confederation have decided upon the winding up of its operation, the members of the Executive Committee of the Confederation shall act as the administrators unless the Confederation shall separately nominate one or more administrator.
3 Should the Confederation wind up its operation, its assets shall be divided between the unions which are affiliated to the Confederation at the time of the winding up and in relation to the affiliation fees which have been paid during the preceding ten (10) years.
Change of rules
25 §
1 Changes and additions may be made to these rules at either an ordinary or extraordinary General Council meeting, on condition that the relevant matters have been announced in the invitation to such meeting and with not less than three quarters (3/4) of the delegates who were present voting for such an amendment.
Translation from Finnish by Heli Setälä, BA (Hons), SKTL, MITI, Authorised Translator