Postal strike hits international parcel deliveries to Finland
International parcel deliveries to Finland will be disrupted from today by at least several days due to the start of a two-week postal strike in a dispute over restructuring measures by local postal operator Posti.
The Finnish Post and Logistics Union (PAU) today launched an ‘all-out’ strike, due to run until Sunday November 24, after the union and Posti failed to reach a last-minute agreement last week. The union, which said that up to 9,000 employees would go on strike, then stepped up the pressure yesterday by announcing a follow-up strike from November 25 until December 8.
Negotiations between the two sides are due to continue on Wednesday (November 13) for a new collective agreement to replace the current one that expired at the end of October. The union claims that Posti wants to replace the postal collective agreement with a “cheaper” one based on different working conditions and with lower pay levels, but Posti rejects these claims.
Posti said on Friday that it aims to deliver parcels and pallet shipments arriving from or delivered to Sweden or the Baltic countries in accordance with the service promise but warned that delays of a few days may occur. Other parcels within the EU will most likely be delayed by a few days, although most parcels to/from Europe are delivered as road transport, so the effect on them is minimal.
The strike will have the greatest effect on international parcels and letter items delivered by air transport to/from countries outside Europe, such as the US, Japan or China, according to Posti. Such shipments will not be sent until after the strike, while letterbox delivery of international letters, magazines and advertisements will also be suspended.
In terms of domestic operations, the strike is expected to affect mail delivery above all, with delays of up to several weeks, while parcels delivered through the postal system could be held up by several days.
However, early morning newspaper deliveries and Posti service points will work as normal. Moreover, the industrial action will not affect Posti’s warehousing services and is not expected to cause significant delays in freight services.
“We would like to thank our customers for their patience. We are very sorry about the uncertainty and disruptions caused by the strikes. However, the majority of our parcel deliveries from neighboring areas, such as Sweden, can be delivered quickly, subject to only minor delays. We aim to restore the normal delivery rhythm immediately after the end of the strike and, therefore, Christmas parcels should be delivered on time,” said Jarmo Ainasoja, Head of Exception Management at Posti.
