A postal strike over new conditions of work is set to begin on Thursday after talks to resolve the dispute broke down on Wednesday afternoon. The strike will begin at 4pm.
National labour conciliator Minna Helle said that the union and employer remain far apart on issues including pay, working hours and protections for existing workers.
"There are no conditions conducive to a settlement in the postal dispute. The strike will begin. I’ll meet the two sides on Monday at 10am," tweeted Helle.
Posti says that newspaper deliveries will stop immediately once the strike begins, effectively meaning that Friday’s papers will not be delivered. Essential deliveries, such as medicines, daycare centres’ meals, old peoples’ food deliveries and blood service consignments will all be made during the strike.
Hopes dashed
"Of course we hoped that we’d reach an agreement in time to avoid the strike," said Tuomas Aarto of the service-sector employers’ confederation Palta.
Postal workers’ union leader Heidi Nieminen said that employees cannot accept changes that would hit her members in the pocket.
"While the company is making profits, employees conditions are being weakened," said Nieminen. "Workers on low salaries cannot accept the proposed conditions."
Nieminen said that the employer’s proposals would mean losses in the hundreds of euros a month for postal workers.
PM support
Posti had earlier announced that it would not use temporary agency labour during the strike. That had been a bone of contention with the AKT transport workers union, which had threatened support strikes if agency labour was used during the dispute.
Prime Minister Juha Sipilä has also been in discussions with Posti management. In his capacity as the government minister with responsibility for state ownership steering (a job that rotates among cabinet members but is rarely held by the Prime Minister), Sipilä said that he supports the company's attempts to cut costs.
"The Posti leadership has my full support for all the measures they're forced to take to ensure their competitiveness," said Sipilä, who added that Finland cannot afford a strike right now.
