Finland police department begins two-day strike

Police officers of Finland's Western Uusimaa Police Department, which covers the city of Espoo and adjoining areas, began a two-day strike on Tuesday morning as part of a broader industrial action by state employees, Report informs via Yle.

The strike has been called by the unions representing staff employees after negotiations over a new collective agreement stalled.

The unions rejected a proposal by the National Conciliator on Monday, which sought to find a resolution to the stalemate and avoid the threatened strike from going ahead.

The walkout marks the first time since 1976 that Finnish police officers have gone on strike.

In addition to the Western Uusimaa police officers, other state employees are also joining the two-day industrial action — including staff at prisons in Hämeenlinna and Vantaa as well as workers at the State Treasury Office, the government's Shared Services Centre for Finance and HR (Palkeet) and the government's ICT Centre (Valtori).

The strike by police officers in Western Uusimaa means that all police stations in the district will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

This in turn means that criminal reports cannot be filed in person anywhere in the region until Thursday, as well as asylum or temporary protection applications.

In addition, all services relating to the processing of permits are closed during the strike period. Therefore any bookings for Tuesday and Wednesday relating to, for example, applications for a passport or ID card or firearms permit are cancelled in the jurisdiction of Western Uusimaa.

Customers who have appointments on these days will not be informed separately, for example by text message, of the cancellation, and they will be required to book a new time themselves.

The department advises people to contact other police departments in the event of an urgent matter.

Although in-person police-related services are not available in Western Uusimaa during the course of the strike, the department's online services are still available. This means that it is possible to submit a passport application or file a criminal report via the department's website on Tuesday and Wednesday.

However, any submissions will not be processed until after the strike has ended.

The unions have also noted that the strike would not affect tasks that could potentially endanger public health or safety. In effect, this means that police patrols will carry out urgent tasks during the strike in situations where a person's life might be at risk, for example.