UPM, Paper Union Reach Agreement, End Strike UPM and the Paperworkers’ Union have agreed on their first-ever business-specific collective labor agreements for five UPM businesses. The strike at UPM mills in Finland will end immediately and em- ployees will return to work. The strike covered UPM Pulp, UPM Communica- tion Papers, UPM Specialty Papers, UPM Raflatac and UPM Biofuels units in Finland. UPM will restart customer deliveries as soon as possible. The contract period of the new agreements is four years. Pay increases are in line with the current in- dustry norm. Revisions to wages will be negotiated after the first two years. New agreements are struc- turally less complicated than the old one, and the number of pages is about half of the earlier. A significant change in all business-specific agree- ments is the substitution of periodical pay with hourly pay. Hourly wages are paid by the work done, making the formulation of the pay easier to understand. New collective labor agreements make it possible to take competence and performance into account in wage formulation. All businesses also agreed on added flexibility to shift arrange- ments and the use of working time. UPM Pulp agreed on switching to uninterrupted 365-day running of the pulp mills and more flexi- ble use of workforce during the long maintenance shutdowns. Restrictions on the use of fixed-term employees were removed. UPM Communication Papers, the company’s graphic paper business, agreed on additional hours and flexible use of working time, which are essen- tial for smooth operation. Depending on the work- ing time format, working hours will increase by 24-32 hours per year, except for day work, where the working hours remain unchanged. With the changeover to hourly pay, the extra hours increase earnings accordingly. On weekly level, the increase of working hours is about half an hour per week. In addition, an encouraging pay system was agreed, which improves particularly the earnings of main- tenance and day work. The agreement includes a wage payment guarantee for the first two years of the contract period. The Paperworkers Union’s strike at most UPM mills in Finland began on January 1, 2022, and last- ed almost four months. Originally, approximately 2,100 members of the union went on strike, but approximately 200 of them were ordered to uphold tasks critical to society, such as heat generation and water management, by a court order.
Flexo Market News
DuPont Packaging Graphics www.cyrel.com/na
DuPont Packaging Graphics is the world’s leading supplier of flexographic printing systems in digital and conventional formats; including Cyrel® brand photopolymer plates, Cyrel® FAST processing equipment, Cyrel® round sleeves, mounting and fin - ishing products. For more than 35 years, beginning with Cyrel®, the first photopolymer printing plate, through to to - day’s digital workflow revolution, DuPont has been driving innovation in the Flexo and package printing industries. The Digital Cyrel® FAST imaging system has been broadly recognized for its efficiency, productivity, print performance, and environmental benefits. Flint Group www.flintgrp.com Flint Group Flexographic Products develops, man - ufacturers and markets an extensive portfolio of printing consumables, including: nyloflex ® photopoly - mer printing plates and processing equipment, and dayCorr ® die-cutting blankets and anvil covers. With a strong customer focus, unmatched service and support, and superior products, Flint Group strives to provide exceptional value, consistent quality and continuous innovation to customers around the world. Harper Corporation of America www.harperimage.com We’ve made ceramic anilox rolls longer than any - one in the world and pride ourselves on being the best in the world. Whether wide web, narrow web, newspaper, or corrugated markets, Harper continu - ously strives to bring new flexographic products and services to the printing industry that will improve the quality of your graphics. Flexotecnica’s patented Safe Sleeve Change ® system and Speedy Clean ® auto washup system are designed to give converters a competitive edge through Flexotecnica’s commitment to research and development. Sales, service and support for Flexo - tecnica presses is provided by KBA North America, Inc. in Dallas, Texas with U.S. resident technicians, an extensive spare parts inventory and an experi - enced, dedicated service staff. KBA-Flexotecnica – Get the Edge www.kba-flexotecnica.com/en/
12 April 25, 2022 Flexo Market News
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