Basic Income Initiative Campaign launched!

The new constitution, which came into effect on March 1, 2012, allows citizens to make initiatives to the Parliament. Initiatives must be signed by 50,000 persons within six months. You must be a Finnish citizen to sign the initiative.

Tamy is an associate member of BIEN Finland network, which is preparing a citizens' initiative regarding basic income. The network belongs to the open, international and politically independent Basic Income Earth Network, the objective of which is to call for discussion about basic income and make initiatives about it. The campaign was launched at an event organized in the Visitor Centre of the Parliament of Finland on March 28, 2012. You can watch the video here.

The aim of the initiative campaign is to ensure basic income for everybody permanently living in Finland. As soon as the signatures have been collected, the initiative is presented to the Parliament. The initiative cannot yet be signed electronically, so we are only collecting contact information from the initiative's supporters at this point. As soon as the official signing system is set up, everybody who gave their contact information will receive an email containing information on signing the initiative.

A draft of the initiative can be read (in Finnish) at http://perustulo.org.

Tamy's Basic Income Conference on April 16, 2012

Since 2008, Tamy has considered basic income the best long-term solution to ensure basic subsistence for students. The Student Union organizes a conference about basic income in the lecture room D11 of the main building of the University of Tampere on April 16, 2012 at 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Some topics for discussion are the history and current standing of basic income initiatives, employees' position in negotiations as well as basic income and immigrants. The following speakers will attend: Jussi Vähämäki, Anna Kontula, Thomas Wallgren, Eetu Viren and, via Skype, Andrea Fugamalli from Italy.

The purpose of the conference is to introduce the topic of basic income to those unfamiliar with it; examine it in-depth with those already familiar with it; and, finally, make the initiative and the campaign more visible at the University of Tampere. Furthermore, a short documentary about basic income will be shown in the main lobby of the main building, and an unofficially official afterparty will take place at Kulttuurikahvila Hertta.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons