EAKL activities for graduates

On 2016-03-11/12 a graduate fair was held in Narva, Estonia. A list of participants included not only educational institutions but also many others (customs, borderguards, labour inspection, unemployment agency and many others). The youth section of the Estonian Trade Union Confederation was represented by three activists. We were assisted by two of our colleagues from the city of Narva.

Participants belonged to various age groups with youth (8th grade and above) being the most widely represented. Both the older generation and the youth were interested in getting more information about the trade unions and their role in the life of people. A quiz about trade unions and labour market we composed ended up being the most popular part of our programme. Once the participants had completed the quiz we offered them an in-depth explanation of the answers and the mistakes they had made. Surprisingly enough the general awareness of visitors was high enough to have majority of questions answered correctly. In most cases they were not familiar with the terminology, but had a decent understanding of the underlying concepts. The most common mistake the visitors made was calling trade unions a political organisation. Those particularly interested in the topic received a folder with leaflets that contained info both about the confederation and the brunch unions. Depending on the prior experience of the visitors the contents of the folder and the topics discussed could vary. Certain part of visitors lacked any knowledge in this area and was not interested in expanding it. Some people claimed that trade unions cannot offer adequate protection in the context of working environment.

In the duration of fair we had a possibility to talk to the representatives of the vocational educational centers and discuss possible collaboration. There is a plan to visit some of those institutions to present trade unions to the students.