Almost 400 UPM employees seek unpaid wages through district court

Nearly 400 employees of Finnish forest industry company UPM are pursuing unpaid wages through Kymenlaakso District Court, reports Yle.

The dispute stems from a three-week transport sector strike in spring 2024, during which UPM halted operations and suspended wage payments at its Kymi mill in Kouvola. Workers are now claiming between €200 and €1,200 each in lost pay.

Of the claimants, 105 employees are seeking compensation from parent company UPM-Kymmene Oyj, while 276 are pursuing payments from UPM Communication Papers. Most live in Kouvola, with others based in Kotka and Iitti.

Neither the Paperworkers’ Union nor the employees now demanding wages through legal action participated in the March 2024 strike. UPM justified its pay suspension by citing a legal interpretation of “dependency relationships” between strikes and affected workers’ terms.

The transport strike followed a dispute over Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government program, which proposed changes to industrial peace legislation and local bargaining rules.