Retail strikes will take place across Finland on Friday, after a compromise was rejected by the Finnish Service United Union (PAM).
National labour mediator, Councillor Esa Lonka, presented the negotiating parties with a proposed concessions plan on Monday afternoon just after 16.00, instructing the representatives that they had three hours to approve the new deal. Retail shop employees have been threatening action over what they see as poor wages and unreasonable working conditions.
After initially requesting more time to review the deal, PAM then rejected the offer, claiming that the proposed pay rises were insufficient. The union confirmed that a one-day walk out will take place on Friday, starting at 06.00. Lonka said that further talks before the industrial action were unlikely, reports YLE.
Lonka’s proposal came at the start of the resumption of talks between management and staff employed in retail, including security guards. Negotiations regarding the security sector were continuing in the wake of the call from PAM to ban all overtime employment in the security and commercial sector.
The strikes will not prevent most business from running, according to Ann Selin, PAM President: “We do not expect the strike to close all shops, since many of them will remain open with the help of entrepreneurs and their families”.