[Finland] Dockworker labour contract strike passes third week

In Finland, the country’s main trade unions announced the extension of a strike that has been paralysing the country’s cargo operations for a third week, after deeming talks with the government “fruitless”, The Maritime Executive reports.

The dockworkers' union initiated the strike and others later joined. Now around 7,000 workers have been on strike since March 11. 

Imports and exports have reportedly been largely brought to a standstill as the unions protested proposed labour law changes, calling them “ideological” and fundamental to the quality of life.

“We are disappointed. We have hoped for equality and a softening of hard actions for the employees,” Jarkko Eloranta - President of SAK (the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions) - said. “The government did not agree but still intends to implement numerous business life goals that are negative for employees. Many of them have no effect on employment or the balance of the public finances.”

Topping the list of union complaints are steps by the government to permit more localised and individual labour contracts. 

The union’s universal collective agreements have reportedly been a long-term part of Scandinavian workplace culture. The union asserts that other changes would cut social security benefits and prevent sympathy strikes.

In its announcements, the trade association stated that it “cannot watch from the sidelines the scrapping of the rules of the game of working life built over decades.” It added that 54 per cent of Finns are in favour of the strike.

It emphasised that this is a political strike not an action against individual workplaces or for new contracts. In 2023, one of the unions went on strike to win a new collective agreement for the dockworkers but the trade association met with Minister of Labor Arto Satonen and reported that its calls for compromise were rejected. The association said it was willing to suspend the strike if the government showed understanding of the workers’ concerns.

Container operations ceased when the strike began on March 11 but it was due to end last weekend. Then the union announced it would be extended to at least April 1. Port operations and the railroads that move cargo are targets of the protest action.

The specific companies targeted are all the cargo operations of Viking Line in both Helsinki and Turku and the storage facilities and tankers of Neste. Passenger operations have not been impacted. 

According to the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions, the Finnish Industry Association, the Automotive and Transport Workers' Union AKT, the Service Trade Union PAM, the Construction Union, the Public and Welfare Union JHL and the Electricity Union are all strike participants.
 

Source: The Maritime Executive

(Quotes via original reporting)

In Finland, the country’s main trade unions announced the extension of a strike that has been paralysing the country’s cargo operations for a third week, after deeming talks with the government “fruitless”, The Maritime Executive reports.

The dockworkers' union initiated the strike and others later joined. Now around 7,000 workers have been on strike since March 11. 

Imports and exports have reportedly been largely brought to a standstill as the unions protested proposed labour law changes, calling them “ideological” and fundamental to the quality of life.

“We are disappointed. We have hoped for equality and a softening of hard actions for the employees,” Jarkko Eloranta - President of SAK (the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions) - said. “The government did not agree but still intends to implement numerous business life goals that are negative for employees. Many of them have no effect on employment or the balance of the public finances.”

Topping the list of union complaints are steps by the government to permit more localised and individual labour contracts. 

The union’s universal collective agreements have reportedly been a long-term part of Scandinavian workplace culture. The union asserts that other changes would cut social security benefits and prevent sympathy strikes.

In its announcements, the trade association stated that it “cannot watch from the sidelines the scrapping of the rules of the game of working life built over decades.” It added that 54 per cent of Finns are in favour of the strike.

It emphasised that this is a political strike not an action against individual workplaces or for new contracts. In 2023, one of the unions went on strike to win a new collective agreement for the dockworkers but the trade association met with Minister of Labor Arto Satonen and reported that its calls for compromise were rejected. The association said it was willing to suspend the strike if the government showed understanding of the workers’ concerns.

Container operations ceased when the strike began on March 11 but it was due to end last weekend. Then the union announced it would be extended to at least April 1. Port operations and the railroads that move cargo are targets of the protest action.

The specific companies targeted are all the cargo operations of Viking Line in both Helsinki and Turku and the storage facilities and tankers of Neste. Passenger operations have not been impacted. 

According to the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions, the Finnish Industry Association, the Automotive and Transport Workers' Union AKT, the Service Trade Union PAM, the Construction Union, the Public and Welfare Union JHL and the Electricity Union are all strike participants.
 

Source: The Maritime Executive

(Quotes via original reporting)