If the negotiations do not bear fruit, some 900 mechanics will go on strike at 5 o'clock Monday morning. Saturday’s negotiations began at 1 p.m. and were set to last until 6 p.m. -- but went on until around 7 p.m. Negotiations resumed at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Juhani Haapasaari, President of the Finnish Aviation Union IAU, said the talks were proceeding in a positive spirit. He said that the worker representatives would work until the last minute to reach a resolution. Haapasaari added that he hopes a compromise proposal can be reached by 6 p.m. on Sunday. However no progress was reported by 5 p.m.

The strike would create turbulence in the operations of airlines Finnair, Blue 1 and Finncomm, as union members would not conduct maintenance, repair or inspection work on aircraft.

Finnair and Blue 1 say that even if the walkout goes ahead, they will try to operate all flights on Monday, although some cancellations may be necessary. If the strike continues on Tuesday, a significant portion of flights would have to be cancelled, and by Wednesday all three airlines would be forced to ground all flights.

The protest action would exclude aircraft belonging to foreign airlines and the Finnish Defence Forces.

Both sides have reached gridlock over terms and conditions of work, with major stumbling blocks being salaries and the wording of employment agreements.