Erkki Salomaa (16 October 1917 – 11 November 1971) was a Finnish communist activist, researcher and trade union leader.
Born in Jyväskylä, Salomaa was brought up by his grandmother, in Tampere.
He began working as a glazier when he was 14 years old, and studied part-time at the Workers' Academy and then the University of Tampere.
[1][2] From 1955 until 1960, Salomaa served as general secretary of the Trade Union International of Building, Wood, Building Materials and Allied Industries.
He opposed the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and this made him unpopular with the more orthodox sections of the party.