If Air Greenland’s cabin crews go ahead with their planned strike on 23 July, up to 2,000 passengers could be affected. The airline’s website states “After long negotiations the parties have not come up with a satisfactory agreement. Air Greenland has gone very far in trying to find a solution and regret that the situation has come to a conflict.” Read the full story

As many as two thousand people protested in a demonstration in Reykjavik yesterday against the management of the Central Bank of Iceland.

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Stockholm residents and visitors awoke to a chaotic commute and transportation around the city Tuesday morning after bus drivers went on strike from Monday night.

People have been advised to use rail routes, bicycles, and their own feet as the city’s biggest transport network was pulled out of action, with the exception of services committed to the rail repair link between Nynashamn and Vasterhaninge.

No negotiations have been taking place between the bus drivers’ union Kommunal and the company, Bussarbetsgivarna. The strike is threatening to expand to Vasterbotten County if an agreement isn’t reached by July 8th, followed by Skane County on the 15th.

Both Taxi Stockholm and OKQ8, a car rental firm, expects the results to be ‘hectic’, with cars fully booked out and the reduced taxi summer service under pressure.

Last Saturday the Finnish Airline Pilots’ Association instituted a ban on overtime hours for pilots, according to reports in the Finnish news agency, STT. The ban forced Finland’s largest airline to cancel three flights over the weekend.

According to statements released by the nation’s flagship carrier, no further cancellations would be necessary.

Passengers flying with Finnair on Monday were also affected by the weekend cancellations; however the airline successfully booked seats for them on alternative flights.

Finnair is currently engaged in discussions with the pilots’ union over pay and working conditions. The decision not to work overtime is the result of a breakdown in communication between the two groups.

Communication resumed on Friday last week when Juhani Salonius, the national conciliator, stepped in to supervise a new round of discussions.

This is not the first time Salonius has intervened in union disputes with Finnair. In November 2006, he helped mediate a dispute over Finnair’s intention to hire 500 new cabin crewmembers for its Asian routes through Aero Airlines, a company which pays its employees 30 per cent less than Finnair’s regular flight crew. The cabin crew went on strike for two days and finally accepted a settlement proposed by Salonius.

Finnair is considered the second-safest airline of all time and is headquartered in Vantaa Finland. The airline’s main hub is at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. In 2006, Finnair reported 8.8 million passengers on their planes and offered 15 domestic destinations and 55 international destinations.

Airports are scrambling to conclude wage settlement talks with the umbrella union LO Stat before 16th May. If the two parties do not come to an agreement by that time, seven airports in Norway could be forced into closure as a result, according to reports in Aftenposten.

Last week, LO Stat warned the airport operators that it would pull workers from several airports if a settlement could not be reached. The union said that 220 workers for the Norwegian Civil Service Union and the Electricians and IT Workers Union would be off the job, leaving airports in Bergen Flesland, Molde Aro, Kristiansund Kvernberget, Mosjoen Kjerstad, Mo i Rana Rossvold and Harstad/Narvik Evenes unable to operate. In addition, the strike would also affect some workers at Oslo Gardermoen Airport.

The deadline for the two parties to reach a deal is midnight on 15th May. The talks cover almost all the airport employee groups except the air traffic controllers.

The chief negotiator for LO Stat, Lise Orlsen, said recently during a mediation session: “The parties are not near an agreement and there is a real danger of conflict. We enter all negotiations with the ambition of reaching a result, but there is no doubt that this will be a challenge.”

One of the most important issues currently under discussion is payment for overtime work.

On Thursday last week, employees of the Atria food group of Finland at the Forssa facility participated in a walkout, according to reports in the Finnish News Agency, STT.

According to chief shop steward, Anne Sulander, the walkout lasted until Monday and was caused by difficulties between the staff and the management of Atria, which has been unyielding during recent talks.

Personnel manager for Atria, Tapio Palolahti, told STT he was surprised the walkout had to go ahead, especially during the middle of the talks going on between the two groups. Palolahti felt that the talks had been progressing in a “matter-of-fact manner” which made the walk-out all the more surprising.

At the end of March, Atria announced that it had plans to cut 230 jobs, in both Forssa and Kannus, as part of a large-scale restructuring programme in Finland. The staff cuts, in addition to other restructuring elements, are estimated to save the company around EUR 4 million a year. It is for that reason, to increase efficiency and increase savings, that the restructuring is taking place.

Although the number of employees will be downsized at two locations, the restructuring will create approximately 60 new jobs in other production plants. Those affected by the cuts will be offered a chance to move factories and transfer to another location in Finland.

The food processing plant in Forssa currently employs 170 people.