Lähteenmäki suggests a new Cooperation Committee for the Nordic paper industry unions

The foundation of a joint committee for an increased cooperation between the Nordic paper sector unions has been recently suggested by the President of the Finnish Paperworkers' Union, Mr Jarmo Lähteenmäki. This is in response to the suggested merger of the Finnish and the Swedish paper sector unions, a proposal which was put forward by the President of the Swedish Union of Paper Workers.

The two unions have previously worked together within the auspices of the NIF, the Nordic Industrial Workers Federation. Mr Lähteenmäki gives the grounds for this suggestion as being the aggressive globalisation which is taking place within the sector. The paper industry is dominated on the Nordic level by extremely large companies, for example by Stora Enso in Sweden and Norska Skog in Norway. Mr Lähteenmäki points out that the pressures, for labour market cooperation, have recently significantly increased. There are also plans for a greater degree of cooperation in the representation of the interests of the workers on the European level.

Mr Lähteenmäki, who is 44 years of age, was recently elected as the President of the Finnish Paperworkers' Union for a third term, during the 18th Congress of the Union, which took place from the 4th to the 6th of June 2001 in Helsinki. The Union has some 50,000 members.

Hilkka Jukarainen