Inclusion or Exclusion?

The study identifies and analyzes immigration-related strategies of the Finnish Construction Trade Union (FCTU) and the Service Union United (SUU). It also analyzes the experiences that migrants who work in these sectors have with trade unions. The results indicate that immigration is a contradictory issue for both unions. On the other hand, they strive to include migrants as trade union members and to defend migrants´ labor rights. On the other hand, FCTU and SUU, together with their umbrella organization the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), seek to prevent labor immigration from outside the EU and EEA countries. They actively defend current labor immigration restrictions by drawing attention to high unemployment figures and to the breaches of working conditions migrants encounter.