Finland Braced for Strikes Seen Shaving $220 Million Off Economy

(Bloomberg) --

Finnish industry is bracing itself for a potentially crippling three-day strike after pay talks involving about 100,000 workers broke down.

The stoppage is due to start on Monday and will involve workers in the forestry, chemical and machinery industries, to name a few. According to the Confederation of Finnish Industries, it will cost at least 200 million euros ($220 million) in lost gross domestic product.

Renewable fuel producer and oil refiner Neste Oyj expects disruptions at its Porvoo and Naantali refineries, while local media reported that Orion Oyj is stopping processes at its pharmaceutical factory in the northern Finnish town of Oulu.

Other impacted companies include tire maker Nokian Renkaat Oyj, the Meyer Turku shipyard, elevator maker Kone Oyj and Swedish industrial firms Boliden AB, SSAB and Sandvik AB.

According to Minna Helle of the Technology Industries of Finland, a lobby group, the unions' demands are “much too high in this economic situation” and may put jobs at risk.

Trade unionists retort that they are pushing for only moderate pay rises that would secure consumers' purchasing power and wouldn't put the country's industrial competitiveness at risk.

The strikes add to the current uncertainty in Finland, where the prime minister has resigned over his alleged involvement in a pay dispute at the country's state-owned post office.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kati Pohjanpalo in Helsinki at kpohjanpalo@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net, Nick Rigillo

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