Major maritime strike action averted in Finland

Finnish ship owners and two workers' unions reached agreement Wednesday evening, as a threatened sympathy action in support of the icebreaker crew strike could have affected more than a hundred thousand Easter travelers.

The Finnish Seafarers' Union and the Finnish Engineers' Association secured their goal that collective terms will be applicable in the whole sector. The previous agreement had only covered the icebreakers operated by the state owned Arctia Shipping company.

The chairman of the Finnish Seafarers' Union Simo Zitting told local media that the "unions got what they had gone to get", whereas the chairman of the Finnish Engineers' Association Leif Wikstrom said the agreement has "general applicability in essential parts" but with exceptions.

The negotiator of the employers David Lindstrom said it was high time that the two sides found common basis on the sectoral applicability.

The national state mediator Minna Helle said both sides had made concessions, "otherwise agreement would not have been possible".

Should no agreement had been reached on Wednesday, a sympathy action supporting the ice breakers' crew will prevent any ship sailing under the Finnish flag from leaving a Finnish port, affecting numerous travelers who have booked cruise liner tickets for the coming Easter holidays. Endit