THE FINNISH Airline Pilots’ Association (SLL) on Monday rejected a second proposal from the national conciliator to settle its dispute over terms and conditions of employment with Service Sector Employers (Palta).
The national conciliator’s office revealed yesterday evening in a press release that the proposal had been provisionally accepted by Palta.
The second proposal was slightly more comprehensive than the first one, offering some additional positive elements to employees. SLL, however, concluded that the proposal delegated too many central questions to task forces.
The union has outlined that the collective bargaining agreement should be amended to promote occupational well-being and scrap efficiency measures adopted due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is also demanding that the agreement be specified in regards to the management of changes in shift schedules and standby practices.
Chairperson Vesa Uuspelto argued that pilots have to be able to trust that their shifts do not change unexpectedly due to the nature of work in the field.
Palta on Monday described SLL’s rejection as reckless.
“SLL has driven the negotiations into a dead end, and its demands are unreasonable in light of the already good pay and benefits enjoyed by pilots,” commented Heini Wiik-Blåfield, the head of bargaining at Palta.
Intensive efforts to settle the labour dispute continued over last weekend, with the national conciliator presenting its second proposal to the parties on Sunday. SLL tried to speed up the negotiations last week by staging two one-day strikes, resulting in hundreds of cancelled flights at Finnair.
“We regret the harm the industrial action caused to passengers. We are doing our part to try to guarantee transport services to passengers over Christmas,” said Uuspelto on Monday.
SLL has yet to announce additional work stoppages and proposed yesterday that the ban on on-duty work it has instituted be lifted for the holiday period. While the national conciliator concluded after its second proposal had fallen short that there are presently no preconditions for resuming the bargaining negotiations, the parties can return to the negotiating table by themselves.
The collective bargaining agreement in the sector expired over two-and-a-half months ago.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT