Finnish Seamen Strike Cancelled
The dispute between icebreaker crew and their employer will not now shut Finnish ports.
The two-and-a-half week strike on Finnish icebreakers has ended after the parties involved approved the national mediator's latest offer to solve the dispute, less than 24 hours before a planned major escalation of the conflict.
Maritime unions were prepared to shut all Finnish ports if no deal was reached, shutting down cargo and passenger transport from 2pm on Thursday.
The Finnish Seafarers' Union, the Finnish Ship Engineers' Union, and Arctia Shipping, the state-owned company that operates the country's icebreakers, all approved a proposal by national conciliator Minna Helle to end the dispute over pay and other terms of work.
The initial industrial action involved about 200 workers, but the two unions had threatened to stop all Finnish flag cargo and passenger vessels engaged in foreign trade - including cruise liners - from 14.00 local time to support their members on the icebreakers.
It brings to an end months of negotiations over the icebreaker crews’ terms and conditions. Unions had wanted guarantees that the collective agreements were generally binding on all companies in the sector.
The conciliator disclosed that both sides had moved their positions in the final hours of the dispute.
The national labour conciliator Minna Helle conciliator disclosed that both sides had moved their positions in the final hours of the dispute. “Otherwise this agreement wouldn’t have been possible,” said Helle, who also acknowledged that the prospect of broad disruption to passenger traffic had helped spur an agreement.
