Crippling 2-week port strike in Finland ends after mediation
By APFriday, March 19, 2010
2-week port strike in Finland ends
HELSINKI — A port strike that shut down most of Finland’s foreign trade has ended, National Conciliator Esa Lonka said Friday.
“It’s over,” Lonka said. “Dock workers will go back to work as soon as possible.”
Stevedores began the strike on March 4, disrupting about 80 percent of foreign trade in the highly export-dependent economy. The government said the strike was costing €100 million ($135 million) a day in lost earnings.
“It’s really important that the strike ended,” Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said. “The immediate losses were great, but Finland also lost some credibility in being able to deliver goods on time.”
The labor dispute, which had been negotiated for months, hinged on severance pay and outsourcing. No details of the new deal were immediately available.
Exporters had feared for their good name and Finland’s reputation as a reliable manufacturer and supplier.
The strike severely hit exports — including of major paper makers, UPM-Kymmene Corp. and Stora Enso Oyj — adding fears that it will reverse any hopes of economic recovery in the worst recession since Finland gained independence in 1917.
Gross domestic product plunged 5.1 percent in the last quarter of 2009, and in the full year Finland’s economy shrank 7.6 percent.
