Three-day strike in food production begins

Shortages expected in some products before Saturday

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A three-day strike by workers in industrial food production began at midnight last night and is scheduled to end at midnight on Friday. The stoppage has closed down Finland’s largest meat processing plants, coffee roasting plants, bakeries, sweets factories, breweries, soft drink plants, and dairies.
      The stoppage is expected to be seen first at meat counters and on bread shelves, although no serious shortages are expected.
      The two sides in the dispute are so far apart that National Conciliator Esa Lonka felt that he had no choice on Tuesday night but to suspend mediation efforts and note that the strike would begin. There was no agreement on when the parties to the dispute would meet again.
     
The Finnish Food and Drink Industries’ Federation managing director Heikki Juutinen said that the situation was strange, because the labour side announced already on Tuesday that the strike would begin, while mediation efforts were still underway.
      “It led to a situation in which the conciliator was in an extremely difficult bind, and it was impossible to move on”, Juutinen said.
      “This will be an extremely long process”, he predicted.
     
The strike was announced before the mediation efforts were complete, because the Finnish Food Workers’ Union (SEL) needs to convene a meeting of its delegate council before it can decide on a labour contract, and convening the council requires 24 hours' notice.
      The union’s chairman Veli-Matti Kuntonen said that he would convene a meeting of the council for Monday, which means that the labour side will not be able to approve a possible mediation proposal before that.
     
The strike, which began on Wednesday morning, affects 57 production units, and 9,300 employees. The stoppage ends at midnight, Friday night.
      On Monday evening, the management side is planning a two-day lockout affecting about 17,000 employees in 235 companies if no settlement is reached before that.
      Juutinen says that the lockout is likely to take place.
      Bones of contention in the dispute include flexibility of working hours and compensation for alterations in work schedules. The union side does not accept calls by management for longer working hours.
     
The Food and Drink Industries’ Federation says that the model for working hours is “voluntary”. The industry wants more weekend work to keep production lines of fresh goods going through the weekends.
      Juutinen says that the meat processing industry is still reeling from the previous strike two weeks earlier.
      ETL says that the previous strike has left many pig farms with backlogs of live animals that could not be delivered to slaughterhouses on schedule.
      The industry warns that another break in work at slaughterhouses could lead to overcrowding at pig farms, endangering the health of the animals.
     
Also on Tuesday, the Food Workers’ Union issued a warning of a five-day strike that would begin on May 5th, affecting a total of 83 production units, if no settlement is reached before that.
      The industrial action would involve 11,700 people.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Strike may close food processing plants again (20.4.2010)
  One food strike is averted; a bigger one is still pending, as is lockout from employers´ side (12.4.2010)
  Food workers start three-day strike at selected bakeries and meat processing plants (7.4.2010)

Links:
  SEL, the Finnish Food Workers´ Union
  ETL, Finnish Food and Drinks Industrieś Federation (English site under construction)

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