The Finnish Labour Court has ordered all sides in last week’s labour dispute at the national airline Finnair to pay fines for contract violations.
The Finnish Flight Attendants’ Union (SLSY) was ordered to pay a fine of EUR 8,000 for violating the ongoing labour contract by staging a strike. However, Finnair was also ordered to pay a fine of EUR 4,500 and the employers’ association, the Association of Support Service Industries (ASSI) was fined EUR 3,000 for neglecting its duty to monitor the activities of its member company Finnair.
The court found that Finnair had put pressure on the employee side, even though a labour contract was in force. Under the decision, Finnair had made threats to gain acceptance of measures opposed by the flight attendants.
The labour union had written a complaint to ASSI about the pressure it felt was placed on it by the management side. As the organisation did not take measures to restore industrial peace, the Labour Court found that it had neglected its obligation to monitor events.
ASSI director Peter Forsström said that while legally correct, he felt that the decision was unfair. He added that the most important aspect of it was that the strike by the flight attendants was found to be illegal.
