Strike paralyses Helsinki University today

All the classes and offices at the administrative building of the University of Helsinki will remain closed on Wednesday as the employees called for a strike after the employers and employees’ unions failed to reach a collective agreement on Tuesday.

The major employees’ unions JHL (The Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors), JUKO, and Pardia, in a joint statement also expressed disappointment as the parties could not agree on the proposal of the mediator Janne Metsämäk in this regard.

The university authorities in a press release issued on Tuesday said the targeted industrial action will take place as a strike at the University of Helsinki on Wednesday.

All classes are cancelled and student service points will remain closed on Wednesday due to the strike, said the press release, adding that, if any teacher decides to teach, the students will be informed accordingly.

Only the Examinarium electronic exam room in Aleksandria will remain open while other Examinarium electronic exam rooms will remain closed during the strike.

The teaching and student service points of the open university will also remain closed during the strike, but exams will take place normally and courses taught by the partner institutions are not cancelled.

The National Library will be closed. In addition, the Helsinki University Library will also remain closed, but the Aleksandria Learning Centre and the Minerva Learning Centre on the City Centre Campus and the Terkko Health Hub on the Meilahti Campus will remain open.

No customer services will be available during the strike either on phone or online, the press release added.

Meanwhile, trade unions also threatened to enforce strike at seven other universities – the University of Eastern Finland, the University of Jyväskylä, the University of Lapland, the Lappeenranta University of Technology, the University of Oulu, the University of Turku, and Åbo Akademi – and the undergraduate schools under these universities on March 14, unless there is a collective agreement.

According to the unions, the negotiations are deadlocked because the Finnish universities are being intransigent in their wish to dictate salaries and are unwilling to negotiate on terms of work to develop working life.

Another strike warning has been given to private kindergartens. If this should happen, the strike would close several private kindergartens for two days on March 7-8.