In the past week, Finland’s largest trade union Teollisuusliitto has issued five separate strike warnings for work stoppages for individual days until the beginning of December. In each strike warning, the union has also announced the companies and workplaces to which the strike warning applies.
The strikes announced by Teollisuusliitto include 24 workplaces on December 3, 44 workplaces on December 4, 54 workplaces on December 9, 113 workplaces on December 10, and 83 workplaces in the latest announcement for the strike on December 11. All strike days cover the whole day.
In total, there are therefore 318 workplaces within the scope of the strikes. Many companies have listed several workplaces within the scope of the strike, so the number of companies within the scope of the strikes is clearly smaller, around 130.
Along with the Finnish Industry Association, the white-collar workers’ union Pro has announced its own work stoppages for the same days and largely at the same workplaces. On Friday, Pro has not yet issued a strike notice for the fifth day of the strike.
Pro and Teollisuusliitto have justified the strikes by saying that their contract negotiations on new collective agreements with employers in the technology industry have not progressed as hoped. The collective agreements of both unions in the technology industry expire at the end of November. Teollisuusliitto publicly presented last week that its goal is 10 percent wage increases spread over two years, which the employer rejected as an unrealistic goal.
The strikes will not take place if new collective agreements are reached before those dates.
Large listed companies as targets of strikes
Strike days affect many companies of different sizes and industries across the country.
There are several listed companies under strike warning. On December 3, among the Helsinki Stock Exchange companies, samalaiitehtiö has been announced as the target of the strike Calamari four locations, of which Tampere’s innovation center is particularly significant, and a forest machine manufacturer Keslan three locations including the Ilomantsin factory.
On the second day of strike on December 4, a printed circuit board manufacturer will strike from listed companies Aspocompiin In Oulu, where the company’s main factory is located. The same-day strike also includes a heater manufacturer Harvian main factory and head office location in Muurame.
On the third day of the strike, December 9, listed companies include engineering company, foundry and machining company Componentan foundry in Pori, manufacturer of lifting equipment Hiabin three locations and known for barometers Vaisalan location in Vantaa, where the company’s factory and headquarters are located.
On the fourth day of the strike, December 10, three large listed companies will be affected by the strike: Kone, Konecranes and Nokia. At elevator company Kone, the strike affects 17 locations of Kone Hissien as well as Kone Industrialin from the elevator factory below in Hyvinkää. At Konecranes, the neighboring Hyvinkään plant and twenty other locations are affected by the strike. The day of the strike is approaching from Nokia Nokia Solutions and Networksin office in Oulu. Nokia has a couple of thousand employees in Oulu in production and product development.
In addition to Finnish listed companies, a significant company on the strike list on December 10 is an industrial group ABBall of whose offices are on strike.
In the strikes announced on Friday, which are scheduled for December 11, the target is again several listed companies: Fiskars, Roots, Ponsse, Training and Wärtsilä. At Fiskars, the strike concerns factories in Billnäs and Sorsakoski. Metso’s strike concerns Tampere, Lappeenranta, Espoo and Pori. The Vieremän main factory, the Iisalmen logistics center and 14 other locations, most of which are service centers, are affected by the strike from Pons.
Valmet’s strike affects ten locations, including factories in Jyväskylä’s Rautpohja and Tampere. Wärtsilä has six locations listed as part of the strike, three of which are in Vaasa. Wärtsilä’s large product development center Wärtsilä Sustainable Technology Hub is located there.
Source: www.arvopaperi.fi
