Federation Cautions on Devastating Impacts of Sawmill and Plywood Mill Strike

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Finnish Forest Industries Federation announced that there exists high probability for the strike at sawmills and plywood factories to take place. The strike was declared by the Industrial Union, citing concerns on new terms of employment. As per industry sources, the negotiations have not made much progress.

According to Jyrki Hollmén, Director-Labour Market, Finnish Forest Industries Federation, the Industrial Union is yet to show real interest in negotiations. It aims to reach a harmonized package solution that covers all export industries, whereas the forestry sector prefers industry-specific employment terms, he noted. The strikes are likely to threaten the entire industry, Hollmén added.

Meantime, the Federation had consultations with the Finnish Paper Workers’ Union, which represents the employees belonging to the paper, paperboard and pulp industry. Both the parties have decided to meet with the National Conciliator.

The strikes, targeting almost 110 factories and companies, are feared to lead to factory shutdowns, which in turn is likely to result in huge loss in production. The proposed two-week strike is feared to result in a loss of nearly Euro 1 billion for entire forest industry. If the strikes affect the forest industry exports, the country is feared to lose approximately Euro 500 million of export earnings.

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