Helsinki (21.11.2004 – Juhani Artto) At the end of October there were hundreds of angry and disappointed timber and plywood workers around Finland. The forest industry giant UPM-Kymmene – a company with a long history of socially responsible behaviour – had announced a decision to eliminate 672 permanent jobs in Finland. The contracts of some 50 temporary employees would also not be renewed.
This reduction includes the closure of one sawmill and two plywood factories, together with significant downsizing of certain other mechanical woodworking facilities.
Anger ran especially high when the workers learned how little this Finnish-based, financially successful forest industry giant was ready to invest in severance packages. The packages offered were next to nothing, the workers commented.
Early retirement arrangements will be made for about 200 of those made redundant. However, most of these would have preferred to continue working, in many cases motivated by an urgent need to secure their higher income levels. About 150 have been offered employment elsewhere in Finland or retraining opportunities.
According to the shop steward Markku Korva, few of the workers are in a position to consider moving to other regions of the country. Most of the retraining options offered promise no realistic prospects of new employment, he says.
"We called for regional, customised training courses, but we were offered courses on job-seeking organised by the State employment office."
The employees pressed the enterprise to show responsibility by offering employment after the retraining courses, but this idea was rejected. Korva points out that UPM employs 25,000 people in Finland and has about 1,000 vacant jobs available each year.
There is no mandatory redundancy payment in Finland. However, some multinational enterprises have recently paid cash compensation to dismissed employees. UPM has chosen not to follow this line.
Kalevi Vanhala, President of the Wood and Allied Workers' Union, says that UPM no longer deserves to be associated with the idea of corporate responsibility.
"Nowadays UPM seems only to look for bigger profits, while leaving society to carry the costs."
The enterprise blames the drastic measures on serious overproduction and high production costs in Finland. The reductions in Finland also reflect UPM's recent large investments in wood industry facilities in Russia and the Baltic States.
Improved security demanded in changing situations
In the current round of negotiations for a comprehensive incomes policy settlement the trade union movement has insisted on improved security for employees in situations of change. The objective is to improve the situation of wage and salary earners when employers restructure to improve profitability.
A few years ago UPM's wood industry unit made huge profits. According to the latest figures, however, the wood products section has now become the least profitable within the enterprise.
After the job cuts were announced UPM workers in Finland expressed their anger through one-day strikes. These also involved 7,500 workers at paper mills not affected by the recent decisions. 300 salaried employees organised in the Union of Salaried Employees TU also joined in the action.
Solidarity with UPM's wood industry workers in Finland was also expressed by the Canadian trade union CEP. This union is currently fighting to save about 400 jobs at the kraft pulp mill in Miramichi, New Brunswick, where UPM Kymmene has announced plans to close the facility in January.