The merger of the bus services of Helsinki City Transport (HKL) and Suomen Turistiauto (STA) will lead to a reduction of nearly 100 jobs in the city’s bus operations. The number is considerably larger than previously estimated.
The Helsinki City Board discussed the issues involved in merging its bus operations at its meeting on Monday, but deferred a final decision by a week. Sirkka-Liisa Vehviläinen (SDP) said that the board wants to go through the consequences of the move again. However, the decisions cannot be delayed very long, because the new company is scheduled to begin operations from the beginning of next year.
A final decision on merging the bus services is to be made by the City Council.
The 92 people affected by the new arrangements were informed by letter last week. In the letter the employees were told that their present jobs would be terminated, and that they would be given alternate work from the beginning of next year. Early retirement could also be an option for some.
The City Board decided in September that nobody would be terminated.
After the merger, the city’s public bus operation will employ 1,429 people.
Helsinki City Transport bus drivers staged a 24-hour stoppage in September in protest at the fusion of the HKL bus services with those of Suomen Turistiauto.
