Finland: Icebreaker and university staff strikes loom
The staff of two very different industries – icebreaking and university teaching – are planning to organise strikes to protest what employee organisations call unfair practices in workers’ raises and insufficient steps toward a satisfactory resolution.
The Finnish Ship’s Officers’ Union announces that the Arctia company’s icebreaking staff – currently aiding sea traffic in the Bay of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland – will organise a work stoppage at 2 pm on March 7th, unless ongoing talks result in a conciliation. National conciliator Minna Helle is in charge of managing the dispute.
At the same time, university employee groups Juko, JHL and Pardia also announce that a strike will be organised on the same day, March 7th, if demands are not met before that time.
The organisations released a strike warning last week, saying that Helsinki University staff will walk out on February 28th. An additional strike warning has now been released as well, concerning the institutions Aalto University, the Hanken School of Economics, the University of Tampere, the Tampere University of Technology, the University of the Arts Helsinki and the University of Vaasa.
The conciliation for both the industries’ staff members continues on Wednesday at 5 pm.
Related stories from around the North:
Finland: An optimistic picture for Finland’s economy in 2018, The Independent Barents Observer
Norway: Can Barents region become a superhub on China’s Arctic Silk Road?, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: For Vladimir Putin, Russia’s prosperity will come from the Arctic, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: EU gives financial push to battery factory in Northern Sweden, The Independent Barents Observer
United States: The automation of Arctic oil: Good for companies, hard for communities, Blog by Mia Bennett, Cryopolitics
