Labour dispute at two harbours leads to strike by Finnish stevedores
A strike called by the Finnish Transport Workers Union (AKT) is shutting down goods transport at all of Finland’s harbours as of Monday morning. The strike, by Finland’s stevedores, does not affect passenger services.
The move came after the failure of Sunday’s negotiations in a dispute over personnel cuts enacted at the harbours of Kotka and Hamina last summer. The two sides had agreed to meet again at the office of the national incomes conciliator Juhani Salonius at noon Monday.
On Friday the AKT threatened to call a strike on all Finnish harbours on Monday if no agreement was reached on the dispute. Later on Friday the union and the employers’ side agreed that negotiations would be held on the local level.
The local level talks began on Saturday between representatives of the employees of the harbours of Kotka and Hamina, and the company Steveco Oy, which provides cargo handling services at the two harbours.
When talks broke down on Sunday night, the threat of a strike was renewed.
The dispute involves last summer’s decision by Steveco to terminate the employment of 130 employees, most of whom were able to take retirement, or to arrange their future in some other way.
Actually left out of work were 30 employees. AKT has objected to the fact that those who were let go were not rehired, even though there has been plenty of work at the harbour, for which temporary workers were taken on. As the union sees it, there were no legitimate reasons for the company’s move.
The dispute was the main reason why Finland’s stevedores did not join in the broad-based incomes agreement reached late last year.
