Employees of HKScan Estonia picketing in Turku
Part of HKScan's Estonian employees picketed the company's headquarters in Turku on Wednesday. Some 20 people traveled to Finland to participate in the protest.
Two representatives of Finland's food industry trade union SEL also took part, according to Finnish public broadcaster Yle.
SEL representative Minttu Sillanpää explained that the union representatives of HKScan's production facilities in Finland are currently deliberating ways to support their Estonian colleagues.
HKScan's employees at the Rakvere meatpacking plant have been on strike since Feb. 6.
The slaughter line employees are demanding a base wage hike of 16 percent as of Feb. 1 and a second 16-percent hike as of July 1. Also demanded in the strike announcement sent to the employer by the unions on Jan. 19 is that the employer not make changes to the way incentive pay is calculated.
According to the unions, this would mean an increase in the workers' base hourly wage to €4.34 as of Feb. 1 and €5.03 as of July 1. Based on the unions' calculations, this should increase slaughter line employees' average monthly wages to €1,079 as of Feb. 1 and €1,195 as of July 1.
Editor: Dario Cavegn
