Finnish postal worker strike ends well ahead Christmas

The postal workers' strike in Finland ended on Monday, after concerned parties have accepted a settlement, Finnish national broadcaster Yle reported.

The nationwide postal strike, which has lasted for more than one week, finally ended, after Finland's state-owned post service provider Posti Group and employee representatives agreed on a settlement proposed by the state conciliator Minna.

The settlement reached after weeks of negotiations between the two parties on disputes over wages, working time flexibility and use of outside temporary workers.

Helle told Yle that the solution is "very simple", saying that wages and working conditions will be improved in line with the agreement of employment and growth reached by the parties.

The employer's use of external labor force will be restricted.

In addition, a so called "change security agreement" reached by Posti Group and the Finnish Postal and Logistics Union PAU for the period of 2011 to 2015 will not continue. In the agreement, the employer had to pay a dismissed employee a lump-sum payment equivalent to six months' salary.

Some 4,000 postal workers of Finland started on November 19 a massive nationwide strike organized by PAU, as labor bargaining talks to resolve disputes over new conditions of work broke down.

Other unions have also threatened to stage sympathy strikes.

With Christmas around the corner and mail deliveries actually at a standstill, the public and the business sector were eager to speed up a resolution to the problem. Posti Group promised that Christmas deliveries should be on time, according to Yle. Endit