Three-day strike closes banks in Finland
14.12.2009, 16:30A strike by bank employees will keep Finnish bank branches closed for three days as of Monday, reports Helsingin Sanomat.
Cash machines are expected to operate normally, but some problems can be experienced with individual ATMs, which will not be repaired during the strike if failures occur.
Online banking services might experience delays or other disturbances during the stoppage.
The dispute is over upcoming pay hikes for bank personnel.
The Trade Union which represents bank employees, rejected a mediation proposal put forward on Wednesday by National Conciliator Esa Lonka. The rejected proposal would have given the bank employees pay hikes of an average 1.69 per cent over a period of nearly two years. The minimum increase would have been 0.69 per cent.
Trade union's deputy chairwoman Riitta Suonpää said on Sunday that there was no point in holding any further talks during the weekend. The executive of the union convenes on Tuesday.