Helsinki, Finland, 20 April 2011 -- (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A two-week strike by UPM salaried employees, which started 06 April  in UPM’s operations in Finland, has 20 April at 6 a.m. About 1000 salaried employees working in production, supply chain, finance, human resources, and other areas participated in the strike.

The cost of the strike was estimated at EUR 1 million, which is less than anticipated. "Thanks to large special arrangements and the flexibility of other employees, we managed to secure our customer deliveries and keep production lines running, except one paper machine at our Tervasaari mill," said Jyrki Ovaska, president of UPM’s Paper Business Group. "Unfortunately, resulting from the strike, delays in UPM’s payment traffic will continue for weeks."

Negotiations between the Finnish Forest Industries Federation and the trade union Pro were continuing. Pro has announced that it is expanding the salaried paper industry employees’ strike to Stora Enso, Metsäliitto, and Myllykoski Paper for a two-week period starting 27 April. The planned strike does not include UPM.