The Finnish Seafarers' Union (FSU, formerly known as Finnish Seamen's Union; fi, Suomen Merimies-Unioni, SMU) is a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

representing maritime and inland waterway transport workers in Finland. The Helsinki Seamen's and Firemen's Union was founded in 1916, and from 1920, it was known as the Finnish Seamen's and Firemen's Union, covering the whole country. It was banned in 1930, but a group of socialist trade unionists immediately founded a new union of the same name, and so the union considers its history to be continuous from 1916. In 1934, it joined the

Finnish Federation of Trade Unions The Finnish Federation of Trade Unions ( fi, Suomen Ammattiyhdistysten Keskusliitto, SAK) was a national trade union centre in Finland. The federation was established in 1930, after the Finnish Trade Union Federation (SAJ) was banned. Its initial ...

(SAK). In 1938,

Niilo Wälläri Niilo Frans Wälläri (6 July 1897 – 25 August 1967) was a Finnish socialist, syndicalist politician. Wälläri led the Finnish Seamen's Union from 1938 until his death. In 1913 Wälläri left Finland to become seaman. In 1916, he settled in t ...

was elected as the union's president, known for his advocacy of industrial action. Under his leadership the union secured a

closed shop A pre-entry closed shop (or simply closed shop) is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times to remain employed. This is different fr ...

for the Finnish Merchant Navy. The union's membership grew, reaching 6,805 by 1955, but in 1956 it resigned from the SAK. Three years later, it was a founding affiliate of the rival

Finnish Trade Union Federation Finnish Trade Union Federation ( fi, Suomen Ammattijärjestö, SAJ, sv, Finlands Landsorganisation, FLO) was the first central organisation of trade unions in Finland, established in 1907. It was a part of the Social Democratic Party of Finland ...

(SAJ), and since 1969 it has been affiliated to its successor, the

Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, usually referred to by the acronym SAK ( fi, Suomen Ammattiliittojen Keskusjärjestö; sv, Finlands Fackförbunds Centralorganisation, FFC) is the largest trade union confederation in Finland. Its ...

. By 1998, the union had 10,146 members, while in 2020, its membership was about 9,500.

Presidents

:1938:

Niilo Wallari Niilo is a male given name. People named Niilo include: *Niilo Wälläri (1897–1967), Finnish Socialist, syndicalist leader *Niilo Yli-Vainio (1920–1981), Finnish Pentecostalist leader *Niilo Halonen (born 1940), Finnish former ski jumper who ...

:1968: Olavi Keitele :1976: Reijo Anttila :1992: Per-Erik Nelin :2000: Simo Zitting

External links

References

{{Authority control Seafarers' trade unions Trade unions in Finland Trade unions established in 1916