Technology, everyday working life and employer policy

Verla groundwood and board mill community from the 1880s till the 1960s

Authors

• Inkeri Ahvenisto

Abstract

Technology, Everyday Working Life and Employer Policy: Verla Groundwood and Board Mill Community from the 1880s till the 1960s

Verla Groundwood and Board Mill in the south-east of Finland has been added to the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996. But why has it been preserved to the present day? One of the answers lies in the technological development. Yet, the technology used in the production affects not only the company’s terms of survival – it also affects everyday life and work at the mill. Hence, the second question is: How exactly did the Verla Mill affect the sense of community (both positive and negative)?
A dualistic way of looking at a mill community either as a battlefield of industrial relations or as a near-ideal community, much like 'one big family', is too simple to reflect the variety of the past. This article examines how a simultaneous sense of community and separateness existed and was created both at the level of individual everyday life and in the company's strategy.