Daniel Valtakari, TEK’s work life expert, was elected as the chairperson of UNI Global’s Professionals and Managers group. UNI Global is an international umbrella organization for trade unions.
“As a member of UNI Global’s Board of Directors, I am also directly involved in running the day-to-day operations of the organization. This allows TEK to play a bigger role in the international arena, both in Europe and globally. This will strengthen our position and improve our cooperation with other organizations on international platforms,” says Daniel Valtakari.
The Professionals and Managers group promotes the interests of white-collar workers, especially professional and managerial staff. In practice, this means influencing EU legislation, concluding international agreements and promoting the organization of trade unions, among other things.
“The chairperson actively steers the operations of their own group to achieve their goals and to cooperate with other sectoral groups. Group leader Massimo Mensi and the rest of the people at the office support me in my work.”
This means that TEK will now have a more direct influence on how the issues of professional and managerial staff are handled in Europe and around the world. Examples of issues promoted related to EU legislation include the AI Directive and the Whistleblower Directive.
“I monitor and steer the work of the group along mutually agreed guidelines, meet with other trade unions as necessary and promote organization, cooperation, advocacy and their promotion globally. This is not a full-time job, and I am not moving anywhere from Turku.”
UNI Global is headquartered in Nyon, Switzerland, and employs 56 people. It represents more than 20 million workers in over 150 countries.
Its activities are funded by its member organizations, such as TEK. TEK pays around €11,500 per year in membership fees.