The strike began on Monday (11 March). It has been called by SAK, the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, which is opposing government labour market reforms.

SAK encompasses 18 trade unions. It is campaigning under the hashtag #SeriousGrounds detailing government proposals it is opposed to, including the erosion of working conditions, restrictions on the right to strike, and cuts in social welfare.

The strike action has wide-ranging ramifications for the operation of ports and rail freight, and has the potential to cause fuel shortages.

A spokesperson at biomaterials giant UPM told Printweek: “UPM is a surrogate sufferer of the political strikes that the labour unions have called against the Finnish government’s legislative plans. As the Finnish Transport Workers’ Union AKT is participating in the strike, basically all logistics to and from UPM’s Finnish mills have stopped for two weeks.”

The strike is set to run this week and next week.

“This means that production in all our Finnish pulp and paper mills will be suspended in due time, depending on the local circumstances and managerial decisions. So far, production has stopped at UPM Rauma and UPM Jämsänkoski paper mills,” the spokesperson explained.

“UPM Kymi paper mill is preparing for a shutdown in the coming days. Production at UPM Kaukas and UPM Kymi pulp mills is expected to stop before the end of the week.”

Stora Enso also commented on the impact of the strike action.

“We are, naturally, impacted by the ongoing strikes in Finland as they can affect and delay deliveries to our customers, with ports and railways being critical for transport,” said Ingrid Peura, Stora Enso head of media relations for Finland.

“We are trying to keep production running as long as possible and will store products in warehouses so that they can be dispatched to customers as soon as possible after the strike ends and transport returns to normal.

“However, at some production sites we are having to temporarily ramp down individual production lines or mills.”

A paper industry source said the situation was already causing issues, not least due to the reduction in alternative sourcing options due to the number of mill closures that have taken place outside of Finland.

Separately, UPM has just announced that the Finnish Paper Workers’ Union has terminated its collective agreements with UPM Pulp, UPM Communication Papers, UPM Specialty Papers, UPM Raflatac and UPM Biofuels businesses.

The agreements will expire mid-term on 21 or 22 April.

“The Paper Workers’ Union's decision to terminate the collective agreements in the middle of the contract period is regrettable. We had hoped that wage increases and productivity improvements could have been discussed constructively without terminating the agreements. Our aim is to find mutually beneficial solutions without creating unnecessary insecurity,” stated Jyrki Hollmén, vice president, Labour Markets at UPM.

UPM said the business environment has changed significantly since the agreements were signed in 2022.

“UPM wants to reward good performance. Competitiveness is key to the future of UPM's businesses, and its continued strengthening is in everyone's interest,” Hollmén added.

UPM also noted that negotiations with the Paper Workers’ Union will continue as soon as possible, and the termination of the collective agreements does not mean that the negotiations have ended.

The political strikes detailed above are not related to the negotiation process between UPM and the Paper Workers’ Union.