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Workers walk off the job in Finland

May 16, 2006  By Pulp & Paper Canada


A job-cutting and mill closure announcement by UPM-Kymmene sparked massive protest that resulted in a two-day stri…

A job-cutting and mill closure announcement by UPM-Kymmene sparked massive protest that resulted in a two-day strike.

Plans to slash 2,500 positions in Finland, with a total of 3,600 jobs worldwide, have been met with active resistance that culminated in the Finnish Paper Workers Union calling a two-day strike, which started on May 15. According to a report by The Canadian Press, electrical workers were also expected to partake in the protests, as were office personnel in the forest industry, by staging a one-day walkout for May 17.

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“This is not the right way,” CP reported federation president Anne Brunila as saying. “Shutting down plants and illegal measures increase pressure on efficiency and speed up the process of layoffs.”

UPM-Kymmene confirmed the closures will scale back production capacity in Europe by a substantial 17% for coated magazine paper, and by 12% for coated fine paper.


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