District court rejects wage claims by nearly 400 UPM workers in Kouvola

The Kymenlaakso district court has dismissed lawsuits filed by nearly 400 workers at UPM’s Kymi mills in Kouvola seeking back pay, Yle reports.

The dispute stems from a three‑week transport strike in spring 2024. UPM shut down its operations and stopped paying wages at the Kymi mills because of the strike. Workers who did not take part in the strike were prevented from working due to political strikes by six other unions affiliated with the SAK (Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions).

Altogether 381 members of the Paperiliitto union demanded that UPM pay wages they claimed were owed. The amounts sought ranged from under 200 euros to roughly 1,200 euros per person. Of those, 105 workers filed claims against parent company UPM Kymmene and 276 against UPM Communication Papers. Most workers are from Kouvola, with some from Kotka and Iitti.

The court ruled that the workers had no right to pay for the period when work was prevented. It found that Paperiliitto had not taken part in deciding on or financing the political strikes in March 2024, but concluded that the union shared a common interest with SAK and other unions in achieving the strikes’ goals.

Having dismissed the claims, the court ordered the claimants to pay a total of about 92,000 euros in legal costs to UPM.

During the main hearing in April, the court heard testimony from SAK chair Jarkko Eloranta, Teollisuusliitto (Industrial Union) chair Riku Aalto, Paperiliitto chair Petri Vanhala, Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) legal counsel Markus Äimälä, and UPM labour relations director Jyrki Hollmén.

The rulings are not final and may be appealed.