Chief shop stewards at UPM businesses have written an open letter to the firm’s CEO demanding that negotiations to resolve long-running strike action should be resumed immediately at its Communication Papers business.
UPM is citing ‘force majeure’ for its inability to fulfil customer orders due to the strike action crippling its Finnish mills, but unions have rejected this assertion, describing the situation as “a conflict caused by the company pursuing its ideological objectives”.
Sales at UPM were up 14% to nearly €10bn (£8.33bn) last year in what CEO Jussi Pesonen described as a “strong year” for the overall group, although its Communication Papers business remained loss-making.