Finland - Postal workers walk out in outsourcing row

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Postal services across Finland will be affected by a walkout at a sorting office in Helsinki. Workers are angry over plans to outsource sorting operations to the Dutch postal firm Post NL Shore.


Workers on the night shift walked out of state-owned postal company Itella’s Pasila offices after negotiations between management and unions broke down acrimoniously. Workers arriving the morning shift also walked out early on Tuesday morning.

Head shop steward Jari Pellikka said that Itella employees in Helsinki had been pushed into a corner.

“Our options are so few that there are not other options any more,” said Pellikka. “We have to react, and the only way is through these protests.”

Pellikka says that the actions will continue, as shopfloor workers are disappointed with operational management’s actions.

“A fully state-owned firm cannot outsource abroad, and show an example to the others!” exclaimed Pellikka, who hopes for intervention from the minister for state ownership steering, the Green League’s Heidi Hautala.

Hundreds of thousands of letters will arrive late as a result of the wildcat strike. The Helsinki office handles much of the mail sent nationwide, and 325,000 letters and 5,000 magazines are likely to be delayed by at least one day.