22.05.2012  Juhani Artto

Members, who are working or looking for work or temporarily outside of the labour market, have the right to vote in the election. This concerns rank and file members who are included in the union's rank and file member register by August 1 (4pm).

Members vote for candidates in their own voting districts. The service sector and the financial sector constitute their own national voting districts, whereas the ICT sector and the industrial sector are divided into four regional districts (East, South, West and North).

This mechanism safeguards a balanced distribution of Council members proportionate to the amount of rank and file members in various sectors and in various geographical parts of the country. In the service and financial sectors the geographical distribution is balanced by quotas from various parts of the country.

The industrial sector has the largest number of rank and file members. They have 39 seats on the Council. The service sector has 26 seats, the financial sector 18 and the ICT sector 17.

In the Council, 37 members come from the South. The West also has 37 seats. The East is represented by 15 members and the North by 11.

The Union Council is Pro's supreme policymaking body. The Council is elected for four years. The new Council is planned to have its first meeting in November 2012. The Council has two regular meetings annually and may also have extra meetings if needed.

This is the first time Pro will elect the Council members by a rank and file member ballot. The present Council originates from elections organized at the two unions - TU and Suora - that amalgamated to form Pro in late 2010. Pro was launched officially on January 1 last year.