About Talentia

The trade union Talentia promotes and protects the professional and wage interests of 21,000 social welfare professionals. Talentia is affiliated to Akava, the Confederation of Unions for Academic Professionals. With its present membership, Talentia is Akava's eighth largest affiliate.

Talentia was founded in 1949, starting its activities as the Professional Centre for Social Welfare Workers (HAK). In 1962, HAK changed its name into the Union of Social Workers, and this is how it was known until 2002 when it became the Union of Professional Social Workers (Talentia).

The need for this latest name change arose when Bachelors of Social Services, social instructors, social educators, and instructors for the mentally handicapped with polytechnic degrees or vocational college diplomas started to form the majority of the trade union's membership instead of social workers holding Master's degrees. The name Talentia underlines the high level of competence, talent, and education of social professionals.

Talentia's objectives

Talentia's core task is to ensure that its members are able to pursue rewarding professional careers. To fulfil this task, Talentia has set clear objectives for its activities. These objectives are:

• to ensure that the salaries of Talentia's members are commensurate with their educational level, the demanding nature of their work, and the level of responsibility it involves;
• to create working conditions that enable Talentia's members to enjoy their work and avoid exhaustion;
• to contribute to the evolution of society in line with the principles of social justice and solidarity;
• to attain recognition of the fact that social welfare expertise is needed in decision-making;
• to promote the graduation of competent professionals who obtain jobs that match their qualifications;
• to ensure that the necessary general conditions are in place to enable Talentia's members to continually enhance their know-how and competence;
• to contribute to the creation of a positive image of social welfare professions and enhance their appeal as a career choice.

In its actions, Talentia will remain loyal to its members and the values it has set itself. Talentia's values are know-how, interaction, and the will to change things.