February 2023

Finland Strikes Impacting Supply

THE FINNISH Transport Workers’ Union (AKT) has set no end date for the ongoing stevedore strike, an indication that the roughly 45,000-member union is prepared for a long fight over the terms and conditions of employment, commented Ismo Kokko, the chairperson at AKT.

Kokko last Wednesday told YLE that the union will pursue an agreement based on its own needs rather than consenting to the terms agreed in key export industries.

Juha Mutru, the managing director of the Finnish Port Operators’ Association, contrastively indicated to the public broadcasting company that the interest group will insist on aligning wage increases with export industries. “I do believe that a solution can be found within [those parameters]. We also have various texts we can incorporate into the solution,” he said.

Efforts to resolve the dispute will continue today (27.02.2023).

While stevedores are set to continue their strike at ports indefinitely, strikes in the terminal sector ended yesterday and those in the transport sector on Tuesday. The collective bargaining talks for both terminal workers and lorry, tanker and oil product workers are to be resumed on Monday, 27 February.

The strikes in the transport, post and logistics sectors had caused delays and disruptions to the supply chain which could impact on materials within the printing industry.

The Stevedoring strike, however, may continue to have an impact on shipments arriving from abroad.

With 90 per cent of Finnish foreign goods trade processed at ports, the stevedoring strike has also effectively halted foreign trade.

Next week in Brussels there is an Intergraf forum, Future of Packaging, which is very likely to cover this ongoing situation.