Finland\'s national carrier Finnair cancelled more than 200 international and domestic flights Wednesday on the second day of a cabin crew strike, while both sides wait for the national labour mediator to reconvene negotiations.
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| Finnair planes at Helsinki airport. Finland\'s national carrier Finnair cancelled more than 200 international and domestic flights Wednesday on the second day of a cabin crew strike, while both sides wait for the national labour mediator to reconvene negotiations. |
"I believe and hope that negotiations will re-start as soon as possible," the negotiator for the employers\' side, chairman of the Association of Support Service Industries Kaj Schmidt told AFP.
National labour mediator Esa Lonka has not yet said when the two sides would return to the negotiating table, Schmidt added.
Talks broke down in early Tuesday, prompting the strike which began at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) and causing the cancellation of more than 100 flights.
The central point of disagreement is over schedules.
The Finnish Cabin Crew has said that Finnair is trying to undermine the system of compensatory days off that employees get for bearing the difficulties of long-haul flights.
"The number of hours worked per month is pretty small," argued Schmidt, who said that cabin crews get between 12 and 18 days off per month.
Finnair\'s CEO Mika Vehvilaenen told a press conference Tuesday that the union was stubbornly trying to hold on to outdated practices.
He also warned that unless the company could make significant cost-cutting measures and agree on a favourable labour contract, the company would look into outsourcing operations and jobs to countries with cheaper labour.