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Transport union to support postal workers' strike in Finland

Xinhua, November 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Transport Workers' Union of Finland (AKT) announced on Monday that it will hold a sympathy strike to support the industrial action held by postal workers.

Members of the union at the ports of Hamina-Kotka, Helsinki, Hanko, Turku, Naantali and Rauma will stop handling Deutsche Post Group (DHL)'s mails beginning on next Monday.

If the mails or loads need to be transferred to other Finnish ports, the sympathy strike will expand to the relevant ports, said AKT in a statement on Monday.

Some 4,000 postal workers of Finland started last Thursday a massive nationwide strike organized by the Finnish Postal and Logistics Union PAU, as labor bargaining talks to resolve a dispute over new conditions of work broke down.

The labor action may last for two weeks from Nov. 19 to Dec. 4, said Posti Group, the state-owned post service provider of Finland.

Last Friday, PAU asked other unions, which are part of SAK, the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions confederation, to stage sympathy strikes.

In addition to AKT, seven other unions are also considering possible participation in the industrial action.

The collective bargaining talks continued on Monday, but failed to make significant progress, said Minna Helle, national labor conciliator in a tweet, adding that "the situation remains difficult".

She said that the negotiations will resume on Tuesday.

The postal strike has so far mostly affected the capital region, through which more than half of the country's mails are delivered. It is likely to expand to some other places of Finland in the next a few days.

Posti Group said earlier that Mails and newspapers will remain undelivered for days or even a week in many areas across Finland, due to the strike. Endit