Stevedores' strike at Finnish seaports begins

Paper manufacturers warn of imminent mill shutdowns as export deliveries are paralysed

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No sooner had a settlement been reached in the bus and transport strike, bringing some relief to harassed Finnish commuters, before an industrial action launched by stevedores brought all cargo traffic at Finnish seaports to a halt at 6.00 am today - Thursday.
      The strike began as the mediation talks at the National Conciliator’s office ended without any result after midnight.
      No mediation proposal could be submitted as both sides were so far apart from each other.
     
At stake in the dispute are the Finnish Transport Workers Union’s (AKT) demands for working hours and severance benefits. A crucial cause for the dispute appears to be the question of how far local trade unions are entitled to take part in dismissal decisions.
      No date was set for a new meeting. In fact, when the negotiations stopped, National Conciliator Esa Lonka had no idea when mediation in the dispute could be resumed.
     
Efforts to solve the current conflict began at the National Conciliator’s office as soon as a settlement had been reached in the labour dispute between AKT and the Employers’ Federation of Road Transport (ALT) on Wednesday afternoon.
      The present strike will severely hamper the Finnish export industries.
      It has been estimated to halt some 80 per cent of all foreign trade. If the industrial action continues, the impact will soon be seen on the shelves of grocery stores. Imported fresh fruit and vegetables are expected to be the first to run out.
     
According to the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF), the strike will scrap all plans to revive the exports of the Finnish forest industry, as the stoppage is halting all shipments in ports and preventing deliveries from reaching clients.
      "The knock-on effects of the strike action will cut down on the volume of Finnish work and the number of jobs in the forest industry as well as in other fields affiliated with the forest industry”, says Timo Jaatinen, the President of the FFIF in a press release.
     
During the strike, the Finnish forest industry will lose out on EUR 30 million in export revenues each day, the FFIF estimates.
      The current output of the Finnish paper mills is approximately 20,000 to 25,000 rolls of paper per day. Such volumes are bound to fill up the warehouses very soon, which is why it will not be physically possible to continue production.
      Helsingin Sanomat reported on Thursday that the Finnish paper manufacturer UPM-Kymmene closed down its Rauma magazine paper mill in Southwestern Finland after AKT began the stevedores strike.
     
According to a press release, UPM will continue paper mill shut-downs in Finland as soon as operations are no longer possible due to the lack of raw material and paper storage space.
      Another major papermaker Stora Enso also said that it expects to begin temporarily shutting down its Finnish mills in the near future owing to the standstill at Finnish ports.
     
Mediation efforts in a third AKT labour dispute will begin on Thursday. The threatened strike would affect the freight forwarding services and storage terminals.
      If no settlement is reached in the mediation talks, a strike action will bring the operation of 12 forwarding companies to a halt.
      Most of the 1,000 employees covered by the collective agreement in the warehousing and transport sector would go on strike.
      Today - Thursday - the stevedores are to stage a demonstration in Helsinki.
      They plan to gather in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma at 5.00 pm in order to walk to the headquarters of the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) on Eteläranta 10.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  UPDATE: Transport strike over (3.3.2010)

Links:
  Finnish Port Operators Association
  Stora Enso press release 4.3.2010
  Transport Workers Union (AKT)
  Finnish Forest Industries Federation
  UPM-Kymmene Group press release 3.3.2010

Helsingin Sanomat