The employers responded by locking out 15,000 transport workers at 325 companies. On March 28 the bosses rejected a settlement proposed by a government mediator, arguing that wage increases were more than twice as much as other agreements this year.

In the weeks leading up to the walkout, the chemical and energy workers staged a nationwide one-week strike. They won a wage increase of 4 percent, exceeding the norm of 3.1 percent in other agreements this year.

To further strengthen the economic impact of the strike, AKT, which also organizes the dockworkers, blocked the loading and unloading of ships coming into the harbors in Finland.

The seafarers union weighed in with sympathy strikes on the transport of goods to and from Finland on Finnish ships. The paper workers union and the chemical and energy workers also called strikes, refusing to handle goods covered by the AKT strike.

Workers here in Tampere struck four private bus companies--Väinö Paunu, Länsilinjat, Ahonen & Lastunen, and Liikennilaitos--in opposition to split shifts and for extra pay when driving in the central part of the city. These companies handle long distance commuter traffic from central Tampere to communities around the town.

A city-owned company employing about 500 bus drivers covers local routes. They have better working conditions than the drivers working at the private companies and receive an extra payment, dubbed "Tampere extra" by the workers, for driving in the central parts of town.

Nearly all the drivers at the private companies have split shifts, something drivers at the city-owned company are exempt from after five years of service. The drivers at the city-owned company are organized by the municipal workers union.

Erkki Paasirova, who works at the public bus company, said, "All bus drivers in Finland should support each other, whatever union they belong to." City bus drivers organized two one-day strikes in solidarity with workers at the private companies. Several drivers said between 15 and 30 strikers held daily pickets and other actions in the bus terminal at the center of Tampere and outside the struck company Väinö Paunu.

An agreement was reached April 3 between AKT and the employers in the transport industry for a three-year national contract. The proposal was made by the government mediator. The pact includes a 3.5 percent wage increase now, with a 1.4 percent hike in October. For the next two years, wage increases will follow the national average, with a 1.4 percent additional raise each October to compensate for expected wage increases in other industries above the national norm.

Maximum overtime hours will be limited to 14, down from 17 previously. The drivers at the four companies on strike since February 25 won the "Tampere extra." Around 30,000 bus and truck drivers are covered by the contract.

A young bus driver interviewed at Väinö Paunu wasn't satisfied with the new contract because, he said, no change was made in the divided workday, something he thought was the most important demand in the strike. "We check out the bus at 6:00 a.m. In the middle of the shift we have a several hours partly unpaid break. This can be between two and four hours, which means very long workdays, sometimes until 7:00 p.m," he said.

Another bus driver at Väinö Paunu, Jukka Lindfors, didn't get the "Tampere extra" since he didn't drive inside the center of town, but he was satisfied with the general wage raise.

In a related development, the paper workers union imposed an overtime ban February 17 as negotiations over a general agreement have stalled. They later authorized a strike by its 30,000 members that could begin April 11. Their demands exceed those of the chemical and energy workers union and the transport workers union.

Since March 2 white collar employees in the paper industry have maintained a ban on working overtime. The dockworkers organized by AKT are also still without a contract. Their demands include around the clock six-hour shifts in the harbors.

The AKT-organized bus and truck drivers who have a new contract still have the right to carry out sympathy strikes.

Unions organizing smaller numbers of workers have also called strikes that could begin in early April.

Seven hundred postal workers walked out in a one-day wildcat strike March 24, protesting privatization plans. Their union is discussing further protests.

Claudio Burgos is a member of the Young Socialists in Stockholm. Carl-Erik Isacsson is a member of the metalworkers union in Södertälje. Dag Tirsén, a member of the metalworkers union in Stockholm, also contributed to this article.  
 
 
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