Labour dispute affecting postal distribution around Finland

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Mail distribution around Finland has been hit by serious problems following walkouts by postal employees.

Mail sorters walked off their jobs at the Helsinki sorting centre in Pasila before the beginning of the night shift at about 10:30 PM on Wednesday. There was another walkout by morning shift workers on Thursday.

There was a walkout in Kuopio as well.

The employees are protesting alleged efforts by the postal services company Itella to entice employees to defy a union ban on overtime.

The Finnish Post and Logistics Union PAU declared the overtime ban to spur ongoing negotiations for a new labour contract.

The current contract expired on October 15th.

Itella has denounced the walkouts as illegal because no advance notification had been given.

Initially Itella said that mail distribution would be late primarily in the Helsinki region, but later it admitted that the labour action is having nationwide impact.

Itella says that some deliveries may be delayed by one day, but delays of several days are also possible.

Stoppages are considered possible in other communities next week. If no solution is found to the dispute, local strike action has been threatened next week in Turku, Raisio, and Kaarina.

Next week the action is to spread to Rovaniemi, Jyväskylä, Tampere, Oulu, Kuopoi and Seinäjoki, as well as the Uusimaa and Päijät-Häme regions. Local stoppages will delay delivery by at least one day. Longer delays are also possible, as the existing overtime ban makes it more difficult to relieve backlogs caused by the strikes.

Mediation efforts are continuing later in the week.