The Paper Workers’ Unemployment Fund will be merging with Open Unemployment Fund A-kassa at the beginning of next year. Decisions regarding the merger will be made during spring 2024. An extraordinary meeting of the Paper Workers’ Unemployment Fund representatives will decide on the merger on 16 May 2024. A-kassa will hold their meeting on the decision on 30 May 2024.
The merger is supposed to happen starting 1 January 2025. A-kassa is currently the third largest unemployment fund in Finland with over 243,515 members. With the merger, the member count of A-kassa will be increased by 12,714 transferring members. These member numbers are from the last day of 2023.
The prospective merger does not require any action from the members of the Paper Workers’ Unemployment Fund, and there will be no changes to the unemployment security or benefit payments of the members. If the merger is realised, the members of the Paper Workers’ Unemployment Fund will automatically and with no delays transfer to A-kassa members at the beginning of next year. The merger will have no effect on current A-kassa members.
A-kassa is a general, multi-trade unemployment fund that is open to all wage-earners, and pays its members earnings-related unemployment allowance. A-kassa works together with eleven trade unions: Industrial Union, The Finnish Construction Trade Union, Finnish Transport Workers’ Union AKT, The Finnish Post and Logistics Union PAU, The Finnish Seafarers’ Union FSU, Trade Union for Theatre and Media Finland Teme, The Union of Journalists in Finland, Finnish Actors Union, The Finnish Musicians’ Union, Ay-toimihenkilöt, and Finnish Food Workers’ Union SEL.
More information:
Irene Niskanen, Head of the Open Unemployment Fund A-kassa, tel. 040 860 1637
Päivi Äijälä, Head of the Paper Workers’ Unemployment Fund, tel. 040 632 1069
