About: Rural Workers' Union

The Rural Workers' Union (Finnish: Maaseututyöväen liitto, ML) was a trade union representing agricultural and forestry workers in Finland. The union was founded in 1945 as the Agricultural and Allied Workers' Union, and affiliated to the Finnish Federation of Trade Unions (SAK). Initially, it mainly represented farm workers, with forestry workers instead joining the Forestry and Lumber Workers' Union (SMUL). In 1949, the SMUL was involved in an unauthorised strike, which led to a riot in Kemi, and was expelled from the SAK, with the ML taking over responsibility for unionising forestry workers. The SMUL finally merged into the ML in 1959, and this greatly strengthened the union's position, with it finally able to negotiate national agreements on pay and working conditions.