Toimihenkilöunioni (TU), which represents 6,500 white-collar workers in the Finnish paper and pulp sector, has threatened rolling strikes across the entire industry over a dispute on a pay bargain.

The union issued a 14-day strike notice against 100 companies aligned to the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF) on Tuesday.

Its first target is Stora Enso, which employs 1,000 TU members. It has threatened action at all but two of the company's mills in the country on 16 June if no agreement is reached.

TU has said it will then spread the action to other major paper companies including UPM, which also employees around 1,000 TU members, M-Real, Myllykoski and Metsä-Botnia.

The union is angry because it believes the pay gap between its members and those of Paperiliito, the union that represents blue-collar workers, is widening.

It also claims the paper companies have ignored its proposals over treatment for staff made redundant, job security measures and bonuses for staff involved in training.

TU is being supported in its campaign by ICEM, an international federation of unions. ICEM general secretary Manfred Warda said: "The ICEM has been monitoring TU's talks with the industry for the past six weeks and we are disturbed by the lack of employer movement.

"We now will alert our trade union affiliates globally, within these relevant companies, of this dispute, but we urge the Finnish employers to return to talks and to make meaningful progress toward a renewal contract."

A spokesman for Stora Enso said: "The national moderator has two weeks to resolve the matter and we are waiting to see what happens."

The spokesman added that production was unlikely to be seriously affected should a strike go ahead as the dispute involved white-collar workers.