Finnish stevedores will start a strike at all of the country's ports on April 15 if disagreements with employers over a new labour deal are not solved by then, the transport workers union said on Friday. More than 70 percent of the country's foreign trade goes through its ports, according to Finnish customs. "The strike would not affect the passenger traffic, but all cargo traffic would come to a halt except for oil products, which are covered by another labour agreement," a senior union official told Reuters.
The sides, which have been in talks on a new deal since November, disagree mainly over the use of temporary workers, which the unions say should be significantly lower than the present 1,500 stevedores out of a total 4,000.
The union said it would place a ban on all overtime work at the ports from Friday evening.
A senior employers' representative said he hoped a deal would be reached in time, but could not give an estimate of the potential losses.
"Finland is almost like an island if the strike starts, it would have a very big impact," said Seppo Riski, head of labour market unit at country's industry federation.