Paper deliveries from Finnish mills are being impacted by the strike, which began on 11 March and was initially scheduled to last for a fortnight.

Yesterday, the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) announced that a meeting with Finnish minister of labour Arto Satonen had not been fruitful. SAK said the government was “unwilling to moderate its policy of cuts affecting employees”.

As a result, the SAK board announced that the strikes would continue.

A total of around 7,000 employees from the Industrial Union, the Finnish Transport Workers’ Union AKT, Service Union United PAM, the Finnish Construction Trade Union, the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL and the Electrical Workers' Union are on strike.

SAK president Jarkko Eloranta stated: “We are ready to suspend the strikes at any time if the government shows some appreciation for the concerns of employees.

“The executive board of SAK will meet again to assess the ongoing situation and the continuation of industrial action next week.”

Finnish papermakers including UPM and Stora Enso have been hit by the action, which means products cannot be shipped.

The two groups have both already announced downtime and production stoppages at a number of mills because of the situation.