A two-and-a-half week dispute between icebreaker crews and Arctia shipping has been resolved just in time to avoid large-scale support action. Maritime unions were prepared to shut all Finnish ports if no deal was reached, shutting down cargo and passenger transport from 2pm on Thursday.
The agreement was announced by the national labour conciliator Minna Helle on Twitter. It brings to an end months of negotiations over the icebreaker crews’ terms and conditions. Unions had wanted guarantees that the collective agreements were generally binding on all companies in the sector, and the final agreement states that a board can adjudicate on that question.
The conciliator disclosed that both sides had moved their positions in the final hours of the dispute.
"Otherwise this agreement wouldn’t have been possible," said Helle, who also acknowledged that the prospect of broad disruption to passenger traffic had helped spur an agreement.
"All sides wanted to get this agreed today," Helle told Yle.