Finnish stevedore strike ends after deal between transport workers, port operators
Container cranes at Vuosaari Port in Helsinki on 20 February 2023. The Finnish Transport Workers’ Union (AKT) and Finnish Port Operators’ Association on Wednesday each approved new terms and conditions of employment for stevedores, enabling stevedores to return to work no later than on Saturday, 4 March, according to Helsinki Times.
An agreement on the terms and conditions of employment for stevedores was reached on Wednesday.
The breakthrough in the collective bargaining negotiations signals the end of a strike that had effectively suspended the loading and unloading of cargo ships at ports across Finland since 15 February, confirmed Ismo Kokko, the chairperson of the Finnish Transport Workers’ Union (AKT).
Stevedores, he said, will return to work as soon as possible but no later than on Saturday.
“Over the 25-month agreement term, pay rises will add up to 6.3 per cent, on top of which there’ll be a so-called postponement instalment that’s 1,100 euros,” he commented to Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday.
Kokko stated that people can determine for themselves whether the agreement aligns with the pay rises agreed on in other industries or the ones granted in Germany, which had been the stated goal of the roughly 45,000-member AKT. What is key, he argued, is that a mutually satisfactory agreement has been found.
The agreement will not introduce other significant changes to the terms and conditions of employment for stevedores.
“There’s a couple of things that may be important for the sector but that aren’t generally too interesting. Mostly we’re talking about pay,” said Kokko.
AKT had rejected the two previous proposals to settle the labour dispute, with its chairperson insisting that it will not settle for pay rises that line up with the so-called general rises determined by key export industries, such as the technology industry. Employees in export industries will see their pay increase by around six per cent in the next two years and receive a non-recurring bonus worth one per cent of pay.
The Finnish Port Operators’ Association on Wednesday said the agreement on stevedores aligns with the general line, which now covers about half, or 600,000, of the employees involved in the ongoing round of collective bargaining talks.
AKT on Tuesday approved new terms and conditions of employment for lorry, tanker and oil product drivers, as well as terminal workers. Yesterday, though, the union launched a bus driver strike that has severely disrupted commuter bus services in large cities across Finland.
