Helsinki Bus Strike Averted
Image: YLE
Agreement on a new contract averted a strike scheduled to begin on Thursday and the capital's bus services are operating normally.
Employers backed away from a plan to impose unilateral contract changes and instead negotiated a new deal that is based upon contract terms already in place elsewhere between the unions and the Employers' Association for Service Enterprises (PTY).
According to the labour market conciliator who mediated the negotiations, Heikki Pohja, the new contract runs through the end of April 2012 and includes a 0.65% pay rise in June, a 0.7% increase in October and an increase in April of next year that has not yet been fixed.
The deal means that bus and tram services in the capital are operating normally.
YLE