Management staff say it will take until next week to deliver all the luggage to owners in Finland and abroad.

The labour action started on Monday, when members of the Finnish Aviation Union began protesting the sale of the baggage handling unit to the outsourcing company Barona. More than 80 flights have been cancelled this week.

The IAU has demanded that Finnair postpone the sale of baggage handling operations to an outsourcing company; Finnair says the deal is already done.

Finnair on Tuesday rejected a proposal by the IAU aimed at settling a dispute that led to a walkout by workers at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and the cancellation of 23 flights on Tuesday and 14 on Monday. Following the rejection of the union proposal, workers said they would stay off the job until at least noon on Wednesday. However the walkout appears likely to continue until Thursday at least.

The airline cancelled about 40 flights -- mostly domestic -- on Wednesday. It is trying to operate all long-haul foreign flights. Some European flights were cancelled, as well as one to Shanghai. Some 6,000 passengers have been affected.

The union organized the walkout to protest the sale of the baggage handling unit to Barona Handling, which was completed on Monday. The walkout was supposed to end at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Customer service personnel returned to work, but baggage handlers and loaders stayed away.

An estimated 6,000 -7,000 pieces of luggage were piled up at the airport as of Wednesday evening. About 1,000 of these are to be delivered to customers in the Helsinki area, and the rest abroad. Baggage handling is being done by management staff, who estimate that it will take until early next week to deliver all the baggage.

Finnair insists it is no longer a party to the labour dispute, because as of Monday, the striking employees now work for Barona.

The company also says the walkout is illegal and irresponsible.

Union proposal rejected as power play

The IAU proposed that Finnair postpone the transfer of operations to Barona and negotiate a buy-back. If Finnair had agreed, union members would have returned to work. At least 500 airport workers said they would not return until noon Wednesday at the earliest.

But Finnair says the demand is impossible, and the union knows it.

"The IAU is using this kind of blackmail to force the two sides in the sale to capitulate. This shows pretty well how little the IAU cares for Finnair customers and the rules of the labour market," seethes Finnair's CFO and Deputy CEO, Lasse Heinonen.

The union will now start negotiations on the situation directly with Barona.

"For the sake of the customers and Finnair, I hope they can quickly come to an agreement," adds Heinonen.

Baggage handling at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport has been badly delayed by the walkout. The latest industrial dispute comes less than two weeks after a two-day strike by pilots at the majority state-owned carrier.

Airport Workers' Strike: Flights Delayed, Cancelled