Jun 06, 2008. /Lesprom.com/. The Union of Salaried Employees of Finland (TU), issued a strike notice after terminating the negotiations on a new collective agreement. The strike would start on June 16, 2008, and affect part of the industry. The previous agreement expired at the end of May 2008. The Finnish Forest Industries Federation has offered the Union similar conditions to other collective agreements in the forest industry concluded late 2007 or early 2008. The offer included improvements that would improve the employees’ security in restructuring and make the transition from one position to another easier. “It looks as if the Union for Salaried Employees did not understand the situation of the industry. A strike would weaken the industry’s competitive situation and make Finland a less attractive country for the forest industry in the future. In fact, the Union is weakening the position of its members with its claims of terms which are higher than the agreements already reached with other unions in this industry”, says Mr. Jari Forss, head of the labor market issues of the Finnish Forest Industries Federation. The Finnish pulp and paper industry employs approximately 5000 salaried employees. There are 42 paper or paperboard mills and 43 pulp mills in Finland.