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26 April, 2011
Dear Pulp & Paper Comrades,
The month-long struggle for a fair national collective agreement by 4,000 members of ICEM affiliate Ammattiliitto Pro continues today. In fact, in anything, following a two-week strike against UPM that ended last week, the union has ramped up lawful industrial action.
A full ICEM report from yesterday, 25 April, can be read without going into too many details here.
In short, a scheduled two-week strike action that was to have started on Wednesday, 27 April, has been moved up to today. The strike actions, this time numbering 1,500 Pro members, will be against all Stora Enso operations in Finland, as well as against Metsäliitto and its related and partly-owned paper companies – Metsä-Botnia, M-real, and Metsä Tissue. The reasons for moving strike action up are primarily Stora Enso’s heavy-handed attempt to bust a lawful overtime ban the union has put in place, and the fact that Proliitto enters government-mediated bargaining today over the dispute with the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF).
In your own short words, send a message of congratulations to Pro leaders for waging this gutsy fight on behalf of union members, and send them another note of solidarity. They are Antti Rinne, Jukka Hamalainen, and Matti Koskinen.
They truly have ratcheted up pressure against the industry in Finland and by doing this, it will ensure that white-collar, technical, and clerical workers in the pulp and paper sector in Finland will get their fair share.
Campaign to Save Sappi’s Paper Mill in Biberist, Switzerland
Another hot issue in European pulp and paper is Swiss union Unia’s campaign to prevent Sappi from closing a printing and writing papers mill (one Sappi bought from M-real) in Biberist, Switzerland.
A full ICEM report can be accessed here.
The campaign is exciting because the whole community of Biberist, located some 40 kilometres north of Bern, has rallied to Unia’s campaign. The mill manager is bucking Sappi Europe’s decision to close what now has become a productive and profitable mill. And last week, the Sappi EWC pleaded with management to keep the mill open. Full details can be found in the ICEM story.
Do your part: send a short message to Unia’s representatives that you support the union’s initiatives. They are Manuel Wyss, Markus Baumann, and David Binder.