Strike ends in Finnish paper sector

The strike in the Finnish paper industry, a key part of the Finnish economy (see last month's Bargaining Report), has ended after eight days of action with a three-year agreement which makes some progress towards the union's goals.

The deal provides for a 3.1% national increase in 2001 plus additional local payments of up to 0.7% to be made in December. This is above inflation currently 2.7% (February) and, because of the local additions, higher than the settlements reached at the start of the year. Agreement on the following years, up to the end of January 2003 will be reached later. There is also an extra day's holiday from 2001 for the 40% of the 27,000 working in the industry who are not on continuous shifts. Those working continuous shifts see no change in their current working time, equivalent to 34.3 hours a week, a disappointment for the union.

The agreement also introduces greater controls on the use of outside labour, which must now be agreed with the union, either at local or at national level, and tighter limits on employers' ability to lay off workers on a temporary basis.