Finnair strikes over plans to hire Estonians

Estonians not terribly sympathetic

Finnair’s flight attendants struck late last week over management’s plans to hire 500 new workers through its Estonian subsidiary, Aero Air. The idea was to hire Estonians for 30% cheaper than Finns and put them to work on non-Aero (mostly Asian) routes. The strike, which grounded most of Finnair’s fleet, lasted only two days, until the flight attendants agreed to a mediation proposal by a government representative.

Estonians, cheered on by at least one major daily, effectively called on Finns to get used to it, suggesting that hiring Estonians at cheaper wages was simply a reality of the EU. That may be the case, but the same Estonians certainly expressed no joy when Tallink announced plans to move jobs to Latvia where tax conditions were more favorable for employer and employee alike. Hypocrisy Watch, the international watchdog organization, is following this story. Stay tuned.