Finnair cabin staff are on strike for the 2nd day today, grounding most flights by the airline.
The strike is in response to Finnair's hiring of 500 new cabin staff via it's Estonian subsidiary, Aero, at rates of pay 30% less than current employees.
The Finnish government, which holds a 58% share, has refused to get involved in the dispute. Yesterday it pleaded for the strike to be halted due to possible disruption of an EU summit chaired by Vladimir Putin today near Helsinki. Reporters from the summit confirmed that many of the 1,300 delegates and journalists had been delayed in attending or were still stuck in airports.
Finnair has claimed the strike is illegal, and is attempting to break the strike by using "code-share" airlines such as British Airways. However air travel to Finland is paralysed and most flights are cancelled. The company claims that the strike costs them €2.5 million per day.
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