The Finnish Post and Logistics Union PAU today announced industrial action starting in three weeks, unless a solution is found in the negotiations before then. Posti is currently evaluating the potential effects of the strike and will publish more information on the situation when a more accurate assessment is possible and PAU has issued an official notice of industrial action.
Due to the sharp decline in mail volumes, Posti is facing the most challenging situation in its history and in the coming years, the decline in paper mail volumes will accelerate. We will find ourselves in this situation also after industrial action. Posti hopes that an agreement will be reached as soon as possible.
“PAU bears no responsibility for any damage or disruption caused by strikes, a mere threat of a strike is bad news for our customers. It is very unfortunate for all parties and especially for our customers that instead of solutions that secure future jobs, we are facing industrial action again,” says Yrjö Eskola at Postal Services.
Eskola emphasizes that Posti does not seek pay cuts for the next agreement period in the negotiations. Contrary to PAU’s claims, salaries and evening and night shift allowances remain at the level of PAU’s current collective agreement.
“We are very concerned that PAU’s claims create uncertainty among both our employees and our customers. As an employer, Posti is committed to ensuring that individual salaries will not decrease and that evening and night shift allowances are guaranteed for the next agreement period. We are not seeking to weaken terms of employment in the negotiations but trying to find a solution that ensures work for Posti’s employees also in the future.”
Eskola points out that Posti employs thousands of people that are not PAU members. Posti has approximately 22,000 employees representing several different professional groups. Currently, Posti has a total of 11 collective agreements in place for various positions. The PAU agreement covers about 42% of the personnel.
“Each delivery is important to our customers as well as to us. A large part of Posti’s employees wants to keep the promise of uninterrupted service to our customers. We will do everything in our power to minimize any negative impacts of strikes.”
In addition to Posti, there are 16 other distribution companies distributing mail in Finland. There are currently two collective agreements in use in the delivery sector. Posti is the only company in mail delivery to use the collective agreement with PAU, whereas all other delivery companies use the Collective Agreement Concerning Delivery Personnel negotiated with the Industrial Union.
“We are also preparing for strikes by implementing special arrangements to ensure the best possible service to our customers. However, interruptions can occur if the strikes take place, says Jarmo Ainasoja, Head of Exception Management at Posti.
According to PAU’s press release. the strike is set to begin on Monday, November 11 at 06:00 and end on Sunday, November 24 at 24:00.
“We thank our customers for their patience in advance and deeply regret the uncertainty and disruption caused by PAU. We will publish more detailed estimates on the effects of the strike when we receive an official notice of industrial action from PAU. Media releases can be found on Posti’s website at ”
