Clearing the cargo backlog after the strike should take from a few days to a week or two. At some ports, work started within hours of the deal being reached. For example, work started immediately at the Port of Oulu on Friday.

The return to work follows a settlement to end the two-week old strike by stevedores. Both the Finnish Transport Workers' Union and the Finnish Port Operators' Association agreed to a mediation proposal put forward by National Conciliator Esa Lonka. The two sides agreed to a two-year contract.

Lonka said that the main dispute involving job security and severance terms was resolved by setting up an approach based on the previous contract. He said that stevedores who are being terminated will not be automatically entitled to severance pay. Instead, the arrangements will depend on local negotiations and agreements with individual companies.

Pay hikes follow the lines of those of the recent settlement to the road transport dispute.

Lonka tabled his proposal in the early hours of Friday, following a marathon 17-hour negotiation session with union and employers' representatives. Representatives of the blue-collar union federation, the SAK, and the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK, also took part in the talks.