New agreement follows strike in paper sector

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Finland's nationwide paper workers' strike ended after more than a week on 19 April 2000, with the conclusion of a new collective agreement for the sector. The agreement is valid for three years, and the cost effect of the wage increase for the first year is under 4%. Wage increases for the second and third years were left open for subsequent agreement. Settlements were also achieved for sectoral problems concerning working time, security during lay-offs, use of outside labour, and the award of result- and profit-related bonuses.

A nationwide paper sector strike - which stopped all Finland's paper and pulp mills for over a week (FI0004143N) - ended on 19 April 2000 after the Federation of Forest Industries (Metsäteollisuus ry) and the Paper Workers' Union (Paperiliitto) approved a conciliation proposal drawn up by the national conciliator, Juhani Salonius. After the new agreement was signed, the paper mills restarted operations. Local agreements had been signed at a few paper mills during the strike, before the nationwide collective agreement was concluded.

The new collective agreement lasts for three years, ending on 31 January 2003, and covers about 27,000 workers in the paper industry. The main points of the deal are as follows:

• wages increases which will increase employers' costs by about 3.1% in the first year. In addition, there will be an amount equivalent to 0.1%-0.7% available for wage increases to be agreed on locally in December 2000, depending on particular local circumstances. The cost effect in 2000 will thus be about 3.2%-3.8%. Wage increases for 2001 and 2002 will be agreed on later;

• the Saturday of Ascension Day week will be a paid holiday from 2001 for workers on discontinuous shifts, which means 40% of the union's members. Working time for other workers has not been reduced;

• extended use of outside labour will, in future, be agreed on locally or between the trade unions and employers' organisation. If subcontracting cannot be agreed on between the social partners, it will not occur;

• the practice concerning the right to lay off staff temporarily will be stabilised. The Federation of Forest Industries is obliged to control lay-offs by its member firms. However, the companies retain the right to lay off workers. Wage earners have the right to seek compensation in the event of any lay-off; and

• there will a framework for result- and profit-related bonuses in the collective agreement. The employer is obliged to inform and negotiate with the personnel, but still retains the right to decide on the grounds for awarding such bonuses. The first nationwide strike in the history of the Paper Workers' Union succeeded in narrowing the gap between the positions of employers and employees in the disputes over the specific problems of the paper sector. However, some points of the agreement now reached are somewhat open to interpretation, and this may result in a resurfacing of disputes in the future. It can be assumed that there may be friction at the local level if issues concerning subcontracting, for example, cannot be agreed upon. The Paper Workers' Union ultimately accepted a settlement at a level significantly lower than it had originally demanded, making clear concessions especially on the issue of working time. The union had demanded a cut of seven shifts per year over a three-year period. Under the agreement, however, under half of the union members have been granted a single extra day off per year. This result evidently caused the most disappointment to the union's members. However, the motivation for them to approve the agreement proved stronger, because continued strike action would have been expensive for them as well as for employers. The employers have declared that they are fairly satisfied with the three-year agreement, which will guarantee labour market peace until 2003. The 2000 bargaining round in Finland has occurred at sector level, as a central incomes policy agreement proved impossible to reach (FI9910124N). Paper is one of the last sectors to settle, after disputes in chemicals and transport had been resolved (FI0003137N), following initial relatively smooth progress in metalworking (FI0001133F) and many other industries (FI0002135N).