The chairman of Finnish trade union Pro on Tuesday welcomed Microsoft Corp. 's bid for Nokia Corp. 's mobile phone business, saying that such a deal needed to happen in order to stop the Finnish handset maker's market share from slumping.

"I think it's a good thing for Nokia's mobile section and for Finland," Antti Rinne told The Wall Street Journal.

Pro, which organizes around 1,500 Nokia workers mainly in research and development, expects that most of its members at the company will keep their jobs, Mr. Rinne said. Microsoft's attitude seems to be to keep things going on, and the U.S. software giant will be "a very good company" to run Nokia's mobile phone business, he said.

Nokia's network equipment business will also benefit from the deal, because the purchase price paid by Microsoft will help it go on operating, Mr. Rinne said.

Microsoft earlier Tuesday European time announced a $7 billion deal to acquire Nokia's struggling handset business, a bold move to try to catch up in a fast-growing mobile market that is dominated by Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc.