Join the union!
Do you work as an employee in education or training or as an education sector expert or manager? Join OAJ! The membership application form is authenticated using online banking credentials or a mobile certificate.
Becoming an OAJ member is worth it
We offer our members a number of financial membership benefits. In addition, as a member, you belong to the Unemployment Fund for Education and Science.
As a member, you get the organisation’s most important membership benefit: labour market and education policy advocacy. We negotiate your terms of employment and salary and monitor their implementation on your behalf. We influence the preparation of laws and decisions that are key to your work.
You can primarily get help and advice about your own work and the terms of your employment relationship from shop stewards trained by OAJ.
We also offer our members a number of financial membership benefits. As a member, you will have professional legal expenses insurance.
Who can join OAJ?
You can become a member if:
- You work as a teacher or in a comparable position in the education and/or research sector
- You work as a principal or in another managerial position in the teaching and/or research sector
- You are in charge of other tasks related to education or training, such as administration, planning or research
- You are qualified as a teacher and have a valid employment contract at the time of application
- You do not qualify as a teacher, but you have an employment contract that is, for the most part, valid for one school term
In early childhood education, the union accepts as members persons who work as teachers or in supervisory duties in early childhood education and have completed degrees in social education and the Bachelors of Social Services.
Membership does not require citizenship of Finland.
If you are a student, you can join the Teacher Student Union of Finland (SOOL) and become a member of OAJ when you graduate.
With the membership fee you can save thousands!
Example: A teacher's monthly salary is 2 573, and they become unemployed for the summer. As a member, they receive a total of 3 016 in earnings-related daily allowance for the summer. If they were not a member of the Education and Science Unemployment Fund, they would receive a basic daily allowance of 1 452, which in this example is less than half of the earnings-related daily allowance.
Example: Errors can sometimes occur in salary payments. If an employee or an OAJ shop steward notices that salary supplements have not been paid to everyone, they can contact the employer to rectify the issue. After the correction, the member receives the salary they are entitled to.
Example: A member has had to rely on OAJ's legal team for assistance due to their work. An OAJ lawyer reviews written documents for three hours and consults with the member for an hour over the phone. Obtaining this help externally would have cost at least 700 euros.
OAJ is one of the most active providers of training among professional organizations. A diverse range of training is organized for members by the OAJ office as well as by local, regional, or national associations.
Example: A member participates in two webinars annually. One is organized at the regional level, and the other by the central organization. The estimated cost is based on the speaker's fee, staff, and IT system expenses. The estimated cost per participant for one training session is 20 euros, making the total cost 40 euros.
A yearly subscription to the Opettaja magazine is free for members. For other subscribers, an annual subscription costs 103 euros.
OAJ membership includes a comprehensive insurance package through Turva. The package also includes professional liability and legal protection insurance, which cannot be directly purchased by individuals. Additionally, OAJ members are entitled to significant discounts on other Turva insurance products. Members are also eligible for the most affordable life insurance on the market from Kaleva.
OAJ members are entitled to a comprehensive insurance package through Turva, which includes leisure-time accident insurance, travel insurance, baggage insurance, travel liability insurance, travel legal protection insurance, as well as professional liability and legal protection insurance.
The travel insurance also covers children (living in the same household) and grandchildren traveling with the member.
Example: A member falls ill during a trip abroad in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
One day of hospitalization in Dubai cost a total of 1 540 euros.
Example: Holiday Club organizes annual draws for affordable vacation weeks for members. For example, the savings on a vacation week in Lapland are at least 400 euros compared to the regular price.
Example: The estimated value of the discount is on average 40 euros per night. If a member stays at a hotel twice a year with OAJ member rates, they save a total of 80 euros.
Example: The estimated savings from Member+ service benefits is 20 euros per used service or product. If a member takes advantage of a Member+ service benefit twice a year, they save 40 euros.
Example: A member participates once a year in a cultural event organized by their local association, such as a theater trip. The costs include the theater ticket, travel expenses, and possible refreshments, which in this example amount to 50 euros per member.
The Educa fair, organized by OAJ and the Finnish Fair Corporation, is the largest event for the education and training sector, held every year at the beginning of the year. These popular fairs are free for participants. On average, tickets for expert events like these cost around 20 euros.
All OAJ associations hold official meetings open to members, such as annual meetings (spring and autumn) and meetings for the board and other possible bodies.
Example: A member attends the annual meeting once a year, which includes a meal. The benefit the member receives covers the cost of the meal, venue rental, and other related expenses. In this example, the costs were 40 euros per member.
Example: A member has compared mortgage offers and received the best offer from OAJ's partner, Danske Bank. They took out a loan of 200 000 euros and automatically received a better interest margin, which decreased from 0.5 % to 0.4 % due to their membership.
This results in savings of approximately 200 euros per year in loan costs. Additionally, they received the loan without a processing fee, which would have been 1 200 euros (normally 0.6 % of the loan amount).
How to become a member
You can join as a member by using an electronic form.
The form is authenticated using online banking credentials or a mobile certificate.
Fill in the membership application form
When joining, we will ask you what your collective agreement is. Please find it out before you start filling in the registration form. If you do not know what your own collective agreement is, you can ask your shop steward or supervisor, for example.
The agreement concerning you is also recorded in your employment contract.
Membership by school or educational institution
Your membership depends on the field of education and educational institution in which you work or where you have the most teaching hours on average.
If your workplace or the majority of your teaching hours is permanently transferred to another educational institution, you will change your association accordingly.
You can join OAJ through a teacher association, if there is one, or a local association operating in your employer’s area of activity. Almost every school, educational institution and ECEC centre has an OAJ contact teacher or person who will advise you on how to join.
The decision to approve a membership is made by the executive board of OAJ’s local association in accordance with the Association Act.
When does my membership start?
OAJ’s membership services process the membership forms in the order of arrival. The membership starts on the date you specified in the membership form.
Especially at the beginning and end of terms, the processing times for forms may be long. However, the processing time of the membership application does not delay the date of approval as a member.
You will receive an e-mail from us as soon as your membership application has been processed.
Please note that the membership services may have sent you more detailed questions about becoming a member, in which case we are waiting for your answer. Please check your e-mail, including your spam mailbox.
Transferring to OAJ from another union
When you transfer to OAJ from another trade union, you can give OAJ a mandate to handle the transfer when you join.
You must change your trade union and unemployment fund membership within 30 days of leaving your previous union. This ensures that the months of employment, i.e. the insurance periods, accumulated during your previous trade union or unemployment fund membership are transferred to the Unemployment Fund for Education and Science with your membership.
If you want to handle the transfer yourself, you should not resign from your previous trade union and unemployment fund until you have received confirmation of your membership.
When you graduate, switch from SOOL to OAJ
Once you have graduated, you can join OAJ upon getting an employment relationship in the education sector. Even short employment relationships count.
Register your membership in My profile. Select from the menu the option about entering working life and joining OAJ.