Truckers cancel midsummer protest

Scattered disruptions still possible

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A threatened go-slow protest by self-employed lorry drivers that could have caused serious problems during the Midsummer rush on Finnish highways, has been called off. Simo Matikainen, the initiator of the plan, said on Wednesday that he has asked drivers not to embark on the protest, in which drivers had threatened to drive their vehicles at a snail’s pace speed of 20 kilometres an hour on the main exit routes out of Helsinki on Thursday.
      The purpose of the action would have been to protest the sharp rise in fuel prices.
      “We achieved more than we had hoped for. There is no sense in ruining people’s Midsummer”, Matikainen said to Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday evening.
      He also said that he sent a text message calling off the protest to the same 42 drivers, whom he had initially enlisted in the protest campaign.
      “We trust that the message will spread through the media. We cannot guarantee that nobody will be driving slow - that’s how pissed off people are.”
     
Matikainen also said that he has not been pressured to give up his protest. On the contrary, his feedback has been positive.
      “But if things do not move forward after Midsummer, we are ready for tougher actions. They would involve seeing to it that stores are empty. Heavy traffic will come to a standstill. That is much bigger than driving at 20 km/hour.”
      Matikainen added that the drivers are still very disappointed in the performance of Finnish Transport and Logistics (SKAL), the organisation that officially promotes the interests of the road haulage business.
     
Traffic is likely to be slow on Thursday in spite of the cancellation of the truckers’ protest.
      Another protest could cause backups: residents of Jurvala in the municipality of Luumäki in the southeast of Finland have threatened to hold a tractor march on the section of Highway 6 which runs through their community on Thursday afternoon. The aim is to press demands that the major highway should bypass their community.
      Highway 6 is a key route used by lorries in transit to and from Russia, with more than 3,,000 heavy goods vehicles passing through every day.
     
Earlier on Wednesday, Kari Rantala, chief of Finland’s mobile police, warned that those who deliberately impede traffic could be subject to prosecution for aggravated endangerment of traffic safety. Under the law, that could lead to the loss of a driving licence.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Transport business association appeals against Midsummer traffic slowdown (17.6.2008)
  Police will intervene if truckers undertake go-slow protest in Midsummer traffic (16.6.2008)

Links:
  Finnish Road Administration - Traffic Information

Helsingin Sanomat