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11 August, 2008
Toimihenkilöunioni TU, the ICEM-affiliated Salaried Workers’ Union in Finland, is calling on both the Finnish government and the chemicals company Kemira to resist cutting jobs in the company’s recently announced cost-reduction programme.
On 4 August, the Finnish chemicals company announced a global restructuring aimed at paring costs totaling €50 million to the group's structure, organisation, and current operating models. Some €20 million of that is slated to come from Kemira’s Finnish operations.
On 5 August, 30 salaried staff at the company’s Vaasa plant staged a one-day walkout. The Vaasa unit is one of five of Kemira’s 12 Finnish facilities in which job cuts are targeted. The company is looking to reduce its workforce in Finland by 300, with most of the job losses scheduled for the salaried ranks.
TU President Antti Rinne criticised the plan because Kemira intends to transfer much of its research and development activities out of Finland. TU Industrial Sector Bargaining Secretary Markku Palokangas said the Finnish government, which holds a 16.52% stake in Kemira, must do more to preserve the chemical industry in Finland.
ICEM Finnish affiliate Kemianliitto, the country’s Chemical Workers’ Union, also expressed dissatisfaction with Kemira’s 4 August announcement. “The company has had a clear strategy,” said President Timo Vallittu. It should place trust in that strategy and create a climate “where investments, long-term production, and better earning capacities” ensure stability in Finland.
Besides Vaasa, a community in western Finland, Kemira said redundancies could occur at businesses in Oulu, Espoo, Aetsa, and Helsinki. Mandatory co-determination negotiations with the unions are scheduled to begin today, 11 August.
Kemira operates in 40 countries and has a global workforce of 10,000. The company’s 2007 revenues stood at €2.8 billion.