In the end, there was no agreement and the strike against wage cuts will occur, announced today National Conciliator Vuokko Piekkala.
The Post and Logistics Union (PAU) has called workers of the fully state-owned Finnish postal service (Posti) for a two weeks strike.
The strike will begin at 6:00 on Monday 11 November and will end on Sunday 24 at midnight. According to PAU, the protest concerns about 9,000 workers of the mail delivery, handling and transportation services, which will stop during this period
By the end of October, PAU had anticipated this protest, which will be the second carried out this autumn.
Today, the National Conciliator certified the failure of the negotiations to unlock the conflict. According to her, both sides' positions are too far to reach an agreement. Nevertheless, next official talks will take place on Wednesday, 13 November.
Second action this autumn
Employees of Posti were already on strike last September in an attempt to curb the wage cut and the reductions on work conditions that the company intends to apply by transferring some of them under the scope of a new collective agreement negotiated by Teollisuusliitto (Finnish Industrial Union) and Medialiitto (Finnmedia).
On that occasion, the strike was suspended after two days and after the intervention of the Government, who promised to review the company's plans for its employees.
Company denies wage cuts
Posti's management denies that the change in collective agreement and proposed reforms aim to reduce the salaries of its employees.
The company informed on a release that due to the strike distribution of printed items such as letters, magazines and publicity will be disrupted and may suffer delays up to two weeks. Package shipments will also be delayed several days.
The company "deeply regrets" the "uncertainty and disruption caused by PAU" and thanks customers for their patience.
PAU's Chair Heidi Nieminen said that their main interest is ensuring the income level of low-paid workers. She also apologized for any inconveniences the action might cause to the clients.
