Some 10,000 white-collar employees of the Finnish Federation of professional and Managerial Staff, YTN, started a strike Tuesday morning after failed talks over wage and conditions.

The strike affects about 40 companies in Finland, among them Finnish escalator and elevator maker Kone Oyj (KNEBV.HE), crane maker Konecranes Oyj (KCR1V.HE), and Swedish miner Boliden AB's (BOL.SK) Finnish operations.

Both the YTN and the employers' representative, the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries, rejected a reconciliation proposal by National Conciliator Esa Lonka.

The YTN rejected the proposal as it didn't include compensation for travelling outside of working hours.

"Senior salaried employees are the only staff group who are forced to travel outside of working hours without compensation," YTN said in a statement.

The Federation of Finnish Technology Industries condemned the strike and said it jars with the uncertain and deteriorating economic outlook.

The workers' union threatens to expand the strike to include 25,000 members from Nov. 7, also targeting Finland-based handset Nokia Corp. (NOK), if a solution isn't reached by then.

The YTN union has been operating an overtime ban involving about 200,000 workers since Oct. 4.

Meanwhile, the Finnish Metalworkers' Union and Trade Union Pro agreed a two-year wage deal with the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries Oct. 24 , ending a three-day strike involving 30,000 metal and engineering workers in 40 companies.

-By Arild Moen, Dow Jones Newswires; +358-9-2516 6279; arild.moen@dowjones.com