Paper workers reject mediation proposal as "completely inadequate"

No talks scheduled for coming week

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Finnish pulp and paper mills will remain shut down for the time being. The Finnish Paperworkers’ Union on Sunday rejected a mediation proposal made by National Conciliator Juhani Salonius, which would have ended the current employer lockout.
      The two sides are so far apart that the labour dispute is expected to last for a long time. There are no plans to return to negotiating table for at least a week.
      The Finnish Forest Industries Federation was ready to approve the proposal, which it felt followed the lines of the broad-based incomes agreement made last autumn. The paper industry opted out of that agreement.
     
Paperworkers’ Union chairman Jouko Ahonen disagrees, saying that only the pay hikes in the proposal corresponded to the broad-based agreement; in other respects, the union felt that the proposal would have significantly weakened the terms of employment in the paper industry.
      Ahonen said that problems with the mediation proposal include allowing the use of more outside labour, weaker protection against temporary redundancies, and inadequate compensation for work during Christmas and Midsummer.
      Ahonen also said that the proposal contained stipulations that would have weakened pay bonuses.
     
Arto Tähtinen, head of labour market affairs at the Forest Industries Federation, put the blame for the negative effects that the current lockout is having squarely on the shoulders of the union side. He said that competition in the paper business is so intense, that "obstacles to productivity" need to be removed.
      He added that the Paperworkers’ Union took on a great responsibility when it rejected the proposal. He calculates that the Finnish national economy is losing EUR 40 million a day because of the stoppage.
      "What is certain is that our industry’s possibilities to provide employment are weakening significantly."
      Ahonen did not accept Tähtinen’s interpretation. He attributed the paper industry’s tight situation to factors other than employee wages, such as low paper prices, failed corporate acquisitions, and a weak dollar, which hurts the price competitiveness of countries of the euro zone.
      Ahonen also rejects the industry’s complaints that the inclusion of cleaning personnel working at paper plants in the union contract is causing unreasonable economic hardship for the industry.
      "The pay that the 900 cleaners employed by the paper industry earn corresponds to that of just 18 executives of the pulp and paper industry. We support those in low-paying professions, as strange as it may seem."
      The wages of a cleaner in the paper industry without extras is nearly EUR 2,000 a month. According to Statistics Finland, the average monthly pay for all Finns is EUR 2,287.
     
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) said that it is very unfortunate that the proposed settlement failed.
      "The negotiations must be continued. This must be brought to an end", Vanhanen said on Sunday evening.
      According to Vanhanen, an extended labour dispute is a threat to the national economy.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Paper industry labour contract dispute to be determined on Sunday (2.6.2002)
  Finnish Forest Industries Federation set to continue lockout (1.6.2005)
  Employers likely to continue paper lockout as mediation efforts go on (31.5.2005)

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