New membership record: Tekna passes 90,000

- There’s been incredible growth in the number of technologists belonging to a trade union. Just one year ago, in September 2020, we passed 85,000 members, and already now we’ve noted member number 90,000. This shows that highly educated scientists and technologists see the value of joining a union, which the pandemic has also emphasized, says Tekna’s general secretary Line Henriette Holten.

The pandemic highlighted the value of membership

Holten feels that the pandemic, and the workplace challenges that followed, have highlighted the value of belonging to a trade union.

- When there’s uncertainty about your own workplace, lay-offs and downsizing, you see what an important safety net a trade union actually is. We’ve supported our members in crises, both politically and by developing helpful services for among others people who are laid off and those who are unemployed. We’ve also fought for students who’ve had challenges connected with their mental health throughout the pandemic, and developed easily accessed services for these people, says Holten.

She’s happy to see that more members are using more of the services provided by Tekna to a greater degree than they were before. - The pandemic has in several ways shown members the value of membership, and many are using their membership actively, not only our financial services such as banking and insurance but also through attending courses and events in addition to using legal services and our professional network, says Holten.

She goes on to explain that Tekna has put a great deal of work into highlighting the association through strategic work in marketing, media and politics.

- We were awarded Marketer of the Year in 2020. This was the result of systematically working to modernize the organization and make us relevant for members, says Holten.

Listened to

The general secretary notes that having 90,000 members gives the trade union even more influence and power to initiate change and participate in negotiations.

- We see that Tekna is increasingly becoming an actor that is listened to, and that we break through with our political input, whether it’s in the area of research and education, technology and transformation, IT investments or important questions about the workplace, she says.

With its 90,000 members, Tekna is clearly the largest member-based organization in The Federation of Norwegian Professional Associations (Akademikerne), and has ambitious goals for future growth.

- Science and technology are becoming more important for solving major challenges in climate, energy, transportation, IT and healthcare. An increasing number of young people want to pursue higher education in STEM subjects in order to join this work. Tekna wants to be an important co-player here, and the next big milestone we’re working towards is 100,000 members, concludes Holten.