Strikes threatened by the Finnish Transport Workers Union (TWU) could cause an upset to the country’s forestry industry, according to the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF).
One day of wildcat strikes at seven Finnish ports have already been held in recent weeks and the union has imposed a February 19 deadline for a deal on a new collective labour contract.
Stevedores in all of Finland’s 25 ports have been warned that a strike would be held if no agreement is struck by then.
FFIF said industrial action initiated by the union threatened forest industry exports and are leading to loss of export revenues.
FFIF executive vice-presiden Jari Forss, said the union’s demands “were not connected with the realities of today”.
“The actions of the TWU are endangering the jobs of forest industry employees,” he said.
Mr Forss said the forest industry had undergone difficult structural changes but was well poised to succeed as the economy recovered. “It is unwise to erode opportunities for success by hampering export deliveries.”
The TWU is asking for a full year of protection against dismissal in contracts, instead of the current six months.
