Central Workers' Council of Finland (, ) was the

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

of the Red side of the 1918 Civil War of Finland. It was appointed by the Workers' Council of People's Representatives to serve as a parliamentary body and supervise the Finnish People's Delegation. Central Workers' Council was composed of 40 members who represented the

Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland ( , SDP, nicknamed: ''demarit'' in Finnish; , SD) is a social democratic political party in Finland. It is the third-largest party in the Parliament of Finland with a total of 43 seats. Founded in 1899 as ...

(SDP), the Finnish Trade Union Federation (SAJ), the

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

and the Helsinki Workers' Council. SDP had 15 representatives, SAJ and the Red Guards 10 each and the Helsinki Workers' Council 5. The chairman was

Valfrid Perttilä Valfrid Perttilä (23 September 1878 – 17 August 1953) was a Finnish politician and trade unionist. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland 1907–1914 and 1917 representing the Social Democratic Party. During the 1918 Civil War of Finland ...

, a former member of the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that ...

. Central Workers' Council had 5 standing committees; the Constitution Committee, Legal Affairs Committee, Finance Committee, War and Economy Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee. The Central Workers' Council was active from 14 February to 10 April 1918. Sessions took place at the House of Estates in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, and in April in

Vyborg Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...

where the Red administration was evacuated prior to the

Battle of Helsinki The Battle of Helsinki was a 1918 Finnish Civil War battle, fought on 12–13 April by the German Empire, German troops and White Guard (Finland), Finnish Whites against the Red Guards (Finland), Finnish Reds in Helsinki, Finland. Together wit ...

. Likewise the People's Delegation, the Central Workers' Council was planned as a contemporary body as the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

was to be passed on a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

. However, the Red power collapsed in late April and most of the leading Reds fled to the

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

Selected representatives

The complete list of members of the Central Workers' Council is unknown as the documents are missing or destroyed. According to the historian Osmo Rinta-Tassi, at least 48 persons, including the deputy representatives, took part on the sessions. The full assemblies of Finance and Foreign Affairs Committees are also missing. ;Leadership *

(chairman) *August Lehto (1st vice chairman) *Kaarlo Tuominen (2nd vice chairman) *

Väinö Jokinen Väinö is a masculine given name, likely a short form of Väinämöinen from Finnish myth. https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Väinö The name is commonly found in Finland and Estonia. It may refer to: * Väinö Auer (1895–1981), Finnish geolo ...

(secretary) ;Constitution Committee * Matti Airola (chairman), Erkki Härmä, Ida Aalle-Teljo, Väinö Jokivirta, Väinö Toikka ;Legal Affairs Committee *

Aura Kiiskinen Auroora Maria ('Aura') Kiiskinen (March 9, 1878 – December 12, 1968) was a Finnish politician and member of parliament. She was first elected from the Kuopio West electoral district (now Northern Savonia) in the 1908 election, serving until 1 ...

(chairman), Taavetti Lapveteläinen, Anni Savolainen, Mikko Aaltio, A. Veijola ;Finance Committee * Heikki Jalonen (chairman), Aino Forsten, Juho Komu, E. Karhunen ;War and Economy Committee *Valter Vihriä (chairman), Emil Peltonen (chairman), Hanna Malm, Akseli Kokkola, Karl Emil Hypén, Erik J. Salo ;Foreign Affairs Committee * Aatto Sirén (chairman), Anton Huotari ;Other * Kustaa Ahmala, Aapo Harjula, Hilda Herrala, Hanna Karhinen, Adam Laakkonen, Onni Tuomi

References

Finnish Civil War Historical legislatures {{legislature-stub