Finland: Vantaa Turban Ban Finally Overturned

Gill Sukhdarshan Singh helps his son to tie his turban.
Gill Sukhdarshan Singh helps his son to tie his turban.

VANTAA, Findland—A bus driver in Vantaa has won his fight to wear a turban at work. His year-long dispute with the Veolia bus company was resolved thanks to an agreement between the Transport Workers Union (AKT), and the employer’s organization (ALT). The resolution was reported first by Helsing in Sanomat.

For more than a year, Gill Sukhdarshan Singh has been in dispute with his employer, Veolia Transport Vantaa,  who had banned his turban saying, because it was not part of the company’s uniform, he could not wear it while driving his bus.

Legal wrangling ensued, with appeals to the southern Finland regional administration and finally, in January, after Veolia refused to budge despite police official reports in Gill’s favour.

After that, the employer’s and employee’s organizations got together at the national level to hammer out a deal.

HS reports that the agreement means that Sikhs should be able to wear either their own turban, or one provided by their employer.

“It feels nice,” Gill told Yle News on Tuesday. “I can wear my turban at work now, and that’s the important thing.”

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