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26 July, 2005
Strike action by ICEM affiliate Paperiliitto against Finland’s paper manufacturers intensified this week with near total shutdowns on 16-17 May of all paper mills following failure of mediated talks over the weekend. Employers now threaten a two-week lockout beginning 18 May in retaliation.
After pulling out late last year from the national incomes policy agreement, the employers’ Forest Industries Federation is now seeking rash concessions including eliminating Christmas and mid-summer shutdown days, greater flexibility including 12-hour shifts and sick leave cuts, making the first two days unpaid.
That proposal, however, was tempered some in recent mediation. Paperiliitto’s resistance to the irrational proposals has been boosted by the commitment of ICEM affiliate Svenska Pappers. The union has imposed a ban on overtime in its papermills in Sweden, and will refuse to perform work shifted into Swedish paper mills from mills in Finland. Some six major companies are involved: Stora Enso, UPM Kymmene, M-Real, Metsä Tissue, Ahlström and Myllykoski.