Negotiations come to a head in the Finnish paper industry

Collective bargaining in the Finnish paper industry has become seriously deadlocked. An overtime ban has been in force in the sector since the end of March and there is now a threat of a complete shutdown in paper manufacturing for two weeks as of the middle of May. This critical situation is the result of a hard line taken by the employers in paper industry collective bargaining. The collective agreement for the industry expired in mid-February.

The unions feel that the approach taken by the Finnish Forest Industries Federation is a deliberate attempt to provoke the workers during the collective bargaining process. This irresponsible behaviour of the employers' federation was also strongly criticised in the Mayday speeches of labour movement leaders.

The comprehensive incomes policy settlement that was signed in December covers more than 80 per cent of employees in Finland for a period of two and a half years. Only a few of the bargaining sectors that remained outside of the comprehensive settlement have yet to reach independent accords of their own, and the Finnish paper industry is the most important of these sectors. On behalf of the employers in this sector, the Finnish Forest Industries Federation sought to frustrate the entire incomes policy settlement process as early as last summer, and refused to negotiate a corresponding agreement for paper workers after the national settlement was achieved.

The Finnish Paperworkers' Union was willing to approve an agreement based on the national settlement, and is still ready to negotiate to achieve this objective. The employers' federation, on the other hand, brought several proposals to the negotiating table that would impair the situation of employees compared to the previous agreement, and it has refused to negotiate on objectives that fall in line with the general policy for employee pay and working conditions agreed last December.

Despite this unwillingness of the employers to negotiate, the unions have steadfastly refused to be provoked. While an overtime ban has been in force in the industry since the end of March, no actual strike warning was issued until after the employers' federation had sought authorisation from its parent confederation to enforce a lockout. The aim of the strike warning by the Paperworkers' Union is to ensure that the dispute is referred to the National Conciliator, Juhani Salonius.

The union has announced that it will sponsor a stoppage of just under 72 hours in the paper industry between 15 and 18 May unless a settlement has been reached before this time. The employers have responded to the strike warning by announcing a two-week lockout at paper mills as of 18 May. Following this lockout decision, the Paperworkers' Union has decided to expand its direct action by two-week strikes in the paper industry in areas that otherwise fall beyond the scope of the lockout announced by the employers.

The Swedish paperworkers' union Pappers has announced an overtime ban in support of the Finnish paperworkers. This three-day overtime ban as of 16 May will affect all employees at Stora Enso mills in Sweden, meaning a total of about 10,000 paperworkers. Pappers has also announced that it is prepared to consider other sympathetic action.

See also

Some industries still lacking collective agreements (18.4.2005)