Finland's crippling paper industry dispute ended Friday but there were lingering fears that the seven-week shutdown could have wider repercussions beyond the loss of an estimated 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in export earnings.

The labor conflict, mainly over outsourcing and holiday stoppages, provoked strikes and a May 18 lockout by employers that shut out some 24,000 workers in the industry.

Some of the world's largest paper makers, including UPM-Kymmene Corp. and Stora Enso Oyj, said they were losing millions of dollars a day, and would report negative second-quarter earnings.

A final compromise was reached Wednesday, two days after Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen prompted the two parties to resume talks that had broken down last week after the Finnish Paper Workers' Union rejected a mediation proposal.

On Friday, union and forest industry leaders gave final, unanimous approval to the three-year pact that fixes wages and working conditions, and workers began to return to work. Paper machines were expected to be running at full capacity by next week.