Strikes cost Finnish timber companies

8 March, 2010

Strikes started by Finnish transport workers are costing UPM and Stora Enso a combined €5.5m a day.

Stora Enso said it would begin temporarily shutting down its Finnish mills in the near future because of the industrial action by stevedoring workers at ports.

The company said the action would cost the company €2.5m per day.

“The impact of the strike will be wide and indefinite,” said Juha Vanhainen, Stora Enso’s Finland country manager. “The strike will severely tarnish the reputation of the Finnish forest products industry and its whole value chain.”

All of UPM’s four magazine paper machines are closed, which it said would cost it €3m a day.

The stevedores are striking in response to a new collective labour contract. The Finnish Transport Workers Union is asking for a full year of protection against dismissal in contracts, instead of the current six months.