Port Workers Walk Off Job

Stevedores began a 24-hour strike on Tuesday morning at harbours in Helsinki, Hanko, Turku, Uusikaupunki, Naantali, Kotka and Kokkola. The walkout is not expected to affect passenger travel.

They have also implemented a ban on overtime.

Workers hope the strike will restart labour talks which broke off on Sunday. Finland’s national conciliator is to decide when the talks will continue.

On Monday, the Transport Workers’ Union AKT announced its workers would walk off the job at all Finnish ports. An open-ended strike is planned for February 19 if a new contract is not ready by then. Such a strike would stall Finland's exports almost completely.