Finnish P&P Strike Ends as Parties Accept Settlement Proposal

The Finnish pulp & paper sector strike which began on January 26 has come to an end. Union and employer representatives announced after meetings today that they had agreed to the settlement proposal put forward by the national mediator.

The new collective agreement will run until December 31, 2021, and does away with the 24-hour annual increase in working hours which was instituted as part of a competitiveness pact for Finnish industry and had become a major sticking point in negotiations. The agreement also paves the way for a 3.3 percent increase in wages for contract employees.

The paper workers’ union Paperiliitto said in a statement that employees would begin returning to work at the start of the next shift and that the lockout at 12 mills launched by employers today would end immediately.

The Finnish Forest Industries Association (FFIF), the sector’s employers’ group, confirmed the acceptance of the new agreement but said it did not improve the cost competitiveness of the Finnish industry. “The changes [in the new agreement] are a step in the right direction but they are insufficient in terms of improving the competitiveness of Finnish mills,” FFIF head Jyrki Hollmén said in a statement. The FFIF has argued that annual shift work in the Finnish P&P industry is some 26 hours shorter than in neighboring Sweden and almost 100 hours shorter than in Germany, while annual earnings in Finland are up to 30 percent higher than for comparable positions in Sweden and Germany.

While the P&P sector has reached an agreement, the strike in Finland’s mechanical forest industry affecting sawmills and plywood mills continues. That strike also began on January 26.

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