Finnish elite athletes join SAK

"Full membership of SAK will provide new backing for collective bargaining on behalf of elite athletes. Our key policy objectives include lobbying for better social security and insurance coverage for athletes, and SAK will provide a channel for securing important expertise in this field. Athletics at the highest level is a profession in the same way as any other," explains SHU Chairman Jarmo Saarela.

SAK President Lauri Lyly views the affiliation of SHU as a natural progression from long-sustained collaboration between the organisations. Elite athletes are also setting a good example by organising.

Lyly stresses that SAK already represents a very broad range of employees in various industries, and that professional athletes will feel right at home in the ranks of his organisation:

"We already have affiliates from the cultural sector representing theatre and media employees and professional musicians. Together with the elite athletes, these organisations will form a segment seeking to lobby especially for improved social security and a better deal for temporary employees and the self-employed.

We are keen to play our own part in improving the status of these occupational groups in the world of work, and I believe that closer collaboration between SAK and elite athletes will add further impetus to this work. We can work together to achieve an optimal outcome."

The policy programme of the current Finnish government also envisages work to identify any anomalies in social security provision for professional athletes and employees in creative sectors on the basis of completed and upcoming studies, and to make the necessary changes. Appointment of a preparatory working group on this subject is expected before the end of this year. The working group will be chaired by Minister of Social Affairs and Health Paula Risikko.

For further details please contact:

• Jarmo Saarela, Chairman, SHU, tel. +358 40 546 5017
• Eija Harjula, Head of Union Affairs, SAK, tel. +358 40 053 6479