A strike by tens of thousands of unionised retail workers is set to start on Wednesday, after negotiations with employers failed to reach an agreement, the National Conciliator's Office announced in a post on X on Tuesday.
The retail workers' strike is set to start at 5am on Wednesday and continue until 5am on Saturday. Meanwhile, retail logistics sector union members began a strike on Monday that is set to end early on Thursday morning.
Service Union United PAM, which represents the retail workers, and the Finnish Commerce Federation employers' group have been negotiating terms of a two-year collective agreement. The union is seeking a 10 percent wage increase, but the employers' group has rejected such a large pay hike.
The strikes will affect around 70,000 employees at about 3,000 workplaces. These include S Group stores, including Prisma and Alepa outlets, Kesko's K-branded shops and hypermarkets, as well as all Lidl, Halpa-Halli and Tokmanni stores.
PAM and the employers' federation are scheduled to resume negotiations on Friday.
Some households in Finland have stocked up on food ahead of the strikes.
But, according to the Finnish Commerce Federation, supermarkets will not run out of products during the industrial actions. However, some individual products may be missing from store shelves, it explained.
Kesko shops
Most grocery stores and supermarkets will remain open during the retail workers' strike that begins on Wednesday.
According to retail group Kesko's grocery chief, Ari Sääksmäki, all of the company's K-branded stores would "in principle" remain open.
However, he urged customers to check individual opening hours on the company's website, as some shops will need to shorten their opening hours in the morning or evening.
"The final decisions will be made on Wednesday morning," he explained.
According to Sääksmäki, K-branded supermarket shopkeepers aren't involved in the strike, and planning to work during the industrial action. They also plan to add staff who are not affected by the strike.
He said that while some individual products may run out, most foods will be available for the duration of the strike. Despite the retail logistics strike which began on Monday, the stores have stocked up this week.
Such items include bakery goods, as well as meat and dairy products, he said.
"Food industry workers are bringing them directly to the stores. They aren't on strike," Sääksmäki noted.
Lidl stores
"We plan to keep our stores open from Wednesday to Friday. However, it's possible that some stores will need to adjust their opening hours," Lidl's communications specialist Johanna Liukkonen said.
The chain plans to post any exceptional opening hours on its website, but will not post eventual changes in advance — but rather on the day in question.
According to Liukkonen, Lidl expects to keep store shelves stocked.
"We've already delivered extra buffer to stores in advance, so that there will be enough on shelves during the strike week," she said, adding the familiar caveat that some individual products may see shortages.
"But there will be substitute products and there will definitely be enough food for everyone," Liukkonen said.
S Group supermarkets
S Group, which runs Prisma hypermarkets and S-Market stores, plans to keep as many stores open as possible, according to the group's grocery trade chief, Sampo Päällysaho.
The company plans to decide on exact opening hours on Wednesday and update them on their website.
"We respect employees' right to strike. Each employee can decide individually whether to come in or skip work tomorrow," Päällysaho said.
He noted that opening hours at Prisma, S-Market and S Group's other shops may be reduced if necessary.
However, he said the recent increased use of self-checkout services has already reduced the amount of workers that stores need.
He said the group's stores were well stocked and that the company would make efforts to replace products that could run out during the strike.
Alko unaffected
State alcohol monopoly Alko shops will be open as usual during the retail workers' strike, it said in a press release on Thursday.
However, it is possible that a store could shut down because it is located in the premises of a grocery store that has needed to close due to the strike.
Alko advised people to check their website to confirm opening hours of specific shops.
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