Journalist Rene Kundla joins Social Democrats, seeks parliament seat

Journalist Rene Kundla has joined Estonia’s Social Democratic Party and will run for parliament in Ida-Viru County, ERR reported.

Kundla said the party had the clearest and most suitable outlook for him, one that he described as caring about workers’ well-being and focused on economic development.

He said the Social Democrats could play an important role in improving Estonia’s labour laws, which he believes currently lean too heavily towards employers’ rights. His experience as a member of a labour dispute committee had shown him that improving both workers’ and employers’ knowledge of workplace relations was a straightforward way to support the economy, he said. Kundla has also served on the board of the Estonian Trade Union Confederation.

As someone from Ida-Viru, Kundla also supports the party’s approach to oil shale policy, which he said aims to move away from the industry through practical decisions rather than slogans.

Kundla has worked in journalism since 1993, when he joined the Ida-Viru county newspaper Põhjarannik. Most recently, he was ERR’s Virumaa correspondent. He was previously a member of the Social Democratic Party until he joined ERR in 2016.