Wood workers' strike resolved with a pay rise of almost two per cent

Helsinki (08.10.2010 &#;8211 Juhani Artto)
The strike of 4,100 wood workers is over. The Wood and Allied Workers' Union and the employer association Finnish Forest Industry approved a new collective agreement on Thursday evening. The agreement covers 18,000 workers.

All workers will receive – starting retroactively from October 1– a 1.1 per cent increase in their wages. In addition an 0.8 pay rise is to be implemented on the basis of local negotiations.

The biggest obstacle to an agreement was resolved by leaving the regulations on the seniority allowance untouched. Originally it was the employer side that demanded changes to these regulations.

If the parties had failed to reach a common understanding the strike was set to become more widespread affecting all the wood industry companies covered by the collective agreement.