As of Saturday, employees in the food industry are working without a contract. The previous collective agreements expired on Friday.
Negotiations on new contracts are set to resume on Monday between the Finnish Food Workers' Union (SEL) and the Finnish Food and Drink Industries’ Federation (ETL).
The talks will focus on five separate collective agreements for workers in the bakery, meat, dairy, industry and brewing and soft drinks sectors. Altogether, they cover some 25,000 employees.
The terms of the old collective agreement apply until a new one is signed. Employers cannot lower wages or extend working hours, for instance, during a non-contractual state, the SEL noted on Friday.
"No obligation to maintain industrial peace"
The union pointed out that since employees at food industry workplaces are now in a non-contractual state, "there is no obligation to maintain industrial peace, which means that the parties can accelerate negotiations through industrial action".
On Friday, the SEL Council gave its collective agreement advisory board the authority to decide on possible strikes.
In a parallel move the same day, the Service Union United (Pam) issued a strike warning that could close most of the nation's grocery stores from 19 to 22 February.
If the SEL decides on walkouts to pressure employers to agree on new contracts, SEL members will receive strike pay of 100 euros per shift.
More industrial strikes
Meanwhile strikes called by the Industrial Union have been are ongoing for nearly a week at dozens of factories around the country.
On Saturday evening, the union announced that a second round of strikes will begin at midnight Sunday, affecting the operations of over 60 companies.
Employers and union reps held talks on Saturday, but no agreement was reached. A new attempt at a collective bargaining deal will be made under the auspices of the national labour mediator on Wednesday.
