In a statement released on March 16, Paperiliitto, the Finnish Paperworkers’ Union, say negotiators from the union and UPM are continuing to attempt to resolve the labor dispute in mediation. The strike has lasted nearly 80 days so far and despite negotiations, no solution has yet been found.

Paperiliitto’s board says it has today decided to continue the strike at UPM’s premises – which began on January 1 – through April 16, or “until the outcome of the negotiations has been reached.”

The ongoing strike applies to all work covered by the expired paper industry’s collective agreement, except for work that, according to a decision issued by the Helsinki District Court on January 12, could endanger life, health, or the environment.

“Negotiations for the new collective labor agreements between UPM businesses and Paperworkers’ Union have continued intensively,” UPM says, adding, “Today the union announced a two weeks’ extension to the strike at most of UPM’s Finnish mills, until April 16, 2022, unless new collective labour agreements are reached before that.”

UPM notes that around 200 union members are currently working 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,” comments Jyrki Hollmén, UPM vice president of labor markets.

UPM again said it will service its customers from its mills outside of Finland “to the extent possible” and has not yet disclosed estimates of the economic impacts of the strikes.

YLE news reports that according to information from the company’s shop stewards, dozens of UPM workers have resigned in various parts of Finland during the strike.

According to YLE, Timo Hietanen, head shop steward at the company’s plant in Jämsänkoski, said seven workers have so far left the company, including white-collar employees, due to the ongoing deadlock.

He added, YLE reports, that it may be difficult to start up all UPM’s paper machines after the strike due to a lack of capable workers, as he also suspects more workers will be forced to resign if the strike continues.

Industry bodies across the European commercial printing and label printing industries, such as FINAT, have expressed deep concern about the damaging impact of the strike. Last week it was reported that while some progress had been made, the negotiations were described as “not yet well advanced.” Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine is also said to be impacting the situation.