Ongoing strike at UPM mills extended by 2 more weeks

The going strike of the Finnish Paperworkers’ Union at the mills of the forest-based industry company UPM has been extended by two more weeks until 16 April, said the UPM in a press release on Wednesday.

On Wednesday the union announced the extension to the strike at most UPM’s Finnish mills, unless new collective labour agreements are reached before that.

Negotiations for the new collective labour agreements between UPM businesses and Paperworkers’ Union have continued intensively.

The Paperworkers’ Union’s strike at UPM Pulp, UPM Biofuels, UPM Communication Papers, UPM Specialty Papers and UPM Raflatac units in Finland began 1 January 2022 and extended several times.

Currently, about 200 union members work at the mills in tasks critical to society, such as power plants and water treatment facilities.

“In recent weeks the parties have negotiated primarily in one-on-one negotiations. Despite intense negotiations, agreements have not been reached. Therefore, UPM Pulp’s negotiations continue now in the official conciliation process”, said Jyrki Hollmén, Vice President, Labour markets at UPM.

UPM will service its customers from its mills outside of Finland to the extent possible. At this point, UPM does not disclose estimates of the economic impacts of the strikes.

Earlier on 24 February, the ongoing strike of the Finnish Paperworkers’ Union extended by three more weeks until 2 April.