Image: Jussi Nukari / Lehtikuva

A postal strike that had threatened to bring Finnish ports to a standstill via sympathy strikes has come to an end after union and employer reached an agreement at the national labour conciliator's office.

The union had been locked in a dispute with employer Posti over a new agreement covering terms and conditions of work for about 10,000 workers.

"This wasn't about the principles for me, I just wanted that their salaries and conditions of work were maintained," said PAU leader Heidi Nieminen. "They are still low-paid people and I am satisfied that we were able to secure what they have had before."

Palta negotiator Tuomas Aarto said that he hoped for a sustainable solution.

"I hope that we don't end up in the same situation when the next contract ends," said the employers' representative.

Employer and employees representatives were also at odds over the fate of about 700 parcel sorting workers, who were transferred to a new collective agreement in August that effectively slashes their pay by what the union says amounts to as much as 30 percent.

The solution envisages those 700 workers returning to the previous collective agreement, which is negotiated by trade union PAU and employers organisation Palta.

The company had wanted their pay negotiated by Medialiitto on behalf of the outsourced subsidiary Posti Palvelut Oy, with the Industrial Union representing the workers.

This agreement will be in force until January 2022.

Efforts spearheaded by national labour conciliator Vuokko Piekkala to resolve differences over the collective bargaining agreements proved fruitless until Tuesday evening when the breakthrough came and a proposed resolution was presented.

That was accepted on Wednesday morning when the two sides gave their response.