Union Members Walked Off The Job Monday Morning, Returned That Afternoon

In a move they said was to protest a reorganization by aviation authorities, Finnish air traffic controllers belonging to the SLJY union walked off the job Monday morning, but returned to work about 14 hours later.

The union represents about 90 percent of the air traffic controllers in Finland. The French news service AFP reports that they were protesting the transfer of the Area Control Center, which coordinates all flights in Finnish airspace as well as traffic between airports, from Tampere to the Helsinki Airport.

The center does not handle the zones immediately surrounding airports. It reportedly works with about 270,000 flights per year.

The union said that transferring the center the 100 miles to Helsinki could lead to security issues, and "have consequences" for ATC in the entire country in the event of a technical failure. They also expressed concerns about possible job losses.

Finavia reported few flight disruptions because of the strike. The company, which was formed out of the former Finnish Civil Aviation Administration, is the managing body of 25 airports located in Finland, according to Wikipedia. Finavia maintains the airport network as well as the navigation system. Finavia said that during the industrial action air traffic was controlled in a safe manner. "Finavia continues to carry out changes affecting air traffic services in a manner that does not in any way risk the safety of air traffic," the company said. Finnish Transport Safety Agency TraFi monitors Finavia’s activities.

Finavia said air traffic controllers announced the industrial actions because they were unable to reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. Currently air traffic controllers do not have a valid collective agreement.

FMI: www.finavia.fi/home