The paper mills run by the wood processing giant UPM ground to a halt on Thursday morning, at the beginning of a 24-hour strike called by personnel to protest the company’s plans for job cuts in its mechanical wood processing industry.
A total of 7,500 workers at the company’s plants around the country walked out, leading to the shutdown of 30 paper machines.
UPM had previously announced plans to cut nearly 700 jobs in its sawmills and plywood factories.
The process leading to Thursday morning’s shutdown began already four hours earlier. When the stoppage is over it will take another four hours before the machines are running again. This means that a 24-hour strike interrupts paper production for at least 32 hours.
