The first day of mediation in efforts to avert a strike by members of the Finnish Frontier Guard got off to a slow start on Monday, with negotiators agreeing only on the limits of a possible stoppage.
On Monday morning, representatives of the Finnish Frontier Guard, and the union representing the border guards agreed that a possible strike would affect 238 passport inspectors and other personnel.
The strike would affect passport inspections at all eight international border crossing points on the Russian border. The stoppage would begin on May 31st if no agreement is reached before that.
The Frontier Guard has said that the border crossings would remain open, and border checks would continue in spite of the strike.
The dispute concerns the new pay system for state jobs. The old seniority bonus system is replaced by a system in which pay depends on the demands of the job itself.
The union’s head shop steward Markku Pietikäinen said that the management pay offer under the new system is too small.
The union calculates that the proposed pay scheme would reduce the pay of the last ten years of a border guard’s career by five percent, and that it would therefore also have an impact on pensions.
The union wants pay to increase by 17% over a period of 23 years. The employer is offering a 10% rise over 20 years.
The union that is threatening to go on strike represents about half of the employees of the Finnish Frontier Guard. Unions representing other Frontier Guard employees have given their approval to the proposed pay scales.
