Paper: Estonian postal workers facing same situation as in Finland
Estonian postal workers are in the same situation as workers in Finland who went on strike for several days this week, Estonian Trade Union Confederation (EAKL) chairman Peep Peterson told daily Postimees, but in Estonia there is no possibility to organize similar collective action.
Trade unions in Finland launched a series of sympathy strikes in support of postal workers on Monday which halted planes, ferries and public transport; Peterson said (link in Estonian) that the fact that this action was needed shows that something is "broken in society" and a strike like this has not been seen in Finland for a long time.
Estonian postal workers are facing the same situation as workers in Finland, he said: "This is part of the same technological transition… Estonian postal workers are in the same position, but the difference is that our postal workers are not able to strike."
He mentioned a strike pact in Estonia in 2004, in which a pact between bus drivers, seamen, railroad workers, and pilots was also joined by nurses and energy workers, and said Finland's recent strike will remind Estonian trade unions of this experience.
Peterson said the last major strike was in the winter of 2012, when the government made changes to the Collective Agreements Act, and for such a strike to take place now, it would have to happen in an employment sector where a union existed and be a such big dispute that other unions from different sectors agreed to support it.
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Editor: Helen Wright