What makes class teacher Esa Ukkola’s work meaningful can be summarised in three things: courage, persistence and learning. In other words, the moments when the student is encouraged to try things out for the first time and when, after persistently trying and practising, they realise that they have learned something new.

Ukkola also has concerns about children’s persistence. After almost 30 years as a teacher, it has declined significantly. 

“Instead of learning, persistence is more often focused on avoiding learning and implementing one’s own will. In order for me as a teacher to be able to better support everyone’s persistent work towards learning, the group size must be such that everyone has the opportunity to learn,” says Ukkola.

Yesterday’s solutions do not fix the problems of today

During Esa Ukkola’s career, the world around school has changed. For one, digitalisation has shaped everyday life and working life enormously. 

Changes outside the school are also reflected in the school. 

“For many decision-makers, their school experience is from 40 years ago. Back then, we lived in a united culture that no longer exists. Now children come to school from completely different worlds than before,” Ukkola summarises.

In its municipal election programme, OAJ offers future municipal decision-makers solutions to ensure the quality of basic education in this day and age. Municipal decision-makers can, for example, reduce the average group size, increase distribution hours or hire resource teachers.

“Many municipalities are experiencing financial difficulties, and the reduction in the number of children may be seen as an opportunity to cut back on education or reduce the number of teacher positions. This direction is wrong. Instead, we should enable smaller groups and keep the number of teachers unchanged,” says Esa Ukkola.

The most important membership benefit for Ukkola is negotiating and monitoring the terms and conditions of the employment relationship.  

Investing in education funding is an investment in the future

Ukkola hopes that every decision-maker understands the significance of the teaching profession. 

“The future of children and society as a whole is in the hands of teachers.” 

The future of Finland and its municipalities will also be affected if there is not enough investment in teachers and the quality of education.

“If the funding for education is too thin, municipalities will later pay a large bill for some people being marginalised or missing the skills they need in working life,” says Ukkola.

 For him, funding and the quality of education go hand in hand.

“Sufficient funding is the key to achieving good quality education. Schools cannot exceed their budget limits on their own, so the responsibility for funding and allocating the euros lies with the municipal decision-makers.” 

Work outside teaching is stressful

In Finland, the quality of education has long relied on highly educated teachers. Their salaries and other terms of employment will be negotiated by OAJ at the beginning of the year, as the current collective agreement will expire at the end of April.

In order to increase the attractiveness of the profession, OAJ agreed on a salary programme in the previous negotiation round that will reduce the pay gaps in relation to export industries. Ukkola now hopes to find solutions to lessen the amount of work outside teaching hours and make it more visible and covered by salary payment.

“The amount of work outside teaching has increased continuously. In primary education, for example, teachers spend enormous amounts of time on cooperation between home and school,” says Ukkola. 

He points out that pay is also a way for municipal decision-makers to attract qualified employees to positions where there is a shortage of skilled workers. 

“There is a shortage of special needs teachers, among others. One way the municipality can attract qualified applicants is by paying a recruitment bonus in fields that lack skilled workers.”

Membership brings community and security

Esa Ukkola feels that membership brings him security in working life. For example, an employee is in a weak position when starting at a new workplace without the support of the shop steward and the OAJ community.

Ukkola has experienced this himself. In 1996, he graduated and started working as a teacher. At that time, he considered trade unions to be a pointless relic of the past. 

A year later, he was laid off.

“That’s when I realised how important it is to be part of a community that provides support. At that time, OAJ raised the problem of temporary layoffs of teachers into national awareness, and as a result there are hardly any more temporary layoffs.”

The most important membership benefit for Ukkola is negotiating and monitoring the terms and conditions of the employment relationship. 

“The essential thing is that the employer cannot dictate the terms of employment but rather we have agreements that must be complied with,” says Ukkola. 

He also sees value in the legal protection offered by OAJ, as you never know when things will go wrong. 

“I don't see any other way to create such security than membership of a trade union. On top of that, you get a lot of community spirit and recreation through activities organised by your own association.”