Lögberg-Heimskringla - 26.09.1963, Blaðsíða 7

LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 26. SEPTEMBER 1963
7
lceland's Manitobans
By Haraldur J. Hamar
REYKJAVIK, (Special) —
A group of 29 Manitobans left
for Iceland by air in June this
year, not to vislt old friends as
many Manátobans have done
lately, but to work in Ice-
landic freezing plants and to
make money.
But they have not made too
much money, and they seem
to have been filled with illu-
sions about the possibilities
awaiting t h e m in Iceland.
Most of them did not like the
long working hours, to which
Icelanders are accustomed,
and some disldked Icelandic
food.
However, t'hey 1 i k e d the
people and now they have be-
come accustomed to their new
life.
Icelandic press reports indi-
cate that most of the Manito-
bans thought they were leav-
ing for Iceland to dig for gold,
so to speak. They assumed
they would return home with
fists full of money, more than
they could possibly have earn-
ed in Canada. Now they have
found out that this was an
illusion. But they are not re-
turning home at once. They
are feeling fine, and most of
them like the experience of
something new, although their
dreams will not come true.
Busiest Port
All the Canadians went to
the Vestmanna Islands (pop.
5,000), Iceland’s busiest fish-
ing port, just off the main-
land’s south coast. All except
one left good jobs in Mani-
toba, and some sold their pro-
perties in a hurry before de-
parture, as they thought they
might stay on in booming Ice-
land.
And all except one did
expect something different
from what in fact they en-
countered. The one did know
something of Iceland: The
lack of manpower, how much
a fisherman can earn if his
skipper is lucky, and the long
working hours. He did not go
to make money; simply to get
to know the country and the
Icelanders.
, According to the Icelandic
press reports the Canadians
blamed their illusions on Rev.
Robert Jack, who went to
Canada on behalf of the Ice-
landic fishing industry to re-
cruit unskilled laborers for
the man-starved industry.
They maintained that Mr.
Jack promised they would
earn so much without work-
ing overtime, but in reality
they often worked overtime
and earned less than they
were led to believe they
would.
Four Left
Out of the original 29, four
left Iceland soon after their
arrival. Two Germans con-
tinued on to Scotland and two
retumed to Canada due to
bad health. All except one of
those left in Iceland are of
Icelandic origin — and many
speak Icelandic fluently.
Working in the freezing
plants, cutting and filleting
ocean fish, they earn 30.15 Ice-
landic Crowns (76 cents) an
hour and double that amount
for anything over eight hours
a day. ($1 Canadian equals
39.56 Crowns).
food is cheaper in Iceland,
they say, and in many ways it
is not as expensive to live in
Iceland as it is in Canada.
Mr. Jack said also he never
promised anyone a certain
amount of money. He had said
only that working in the
freezing plants they would
get around 100,000 Crowns a
year, but on the mötor boats
the Icelandic fishermen could
earn as much as $4,000 to
$5,000 and even more, which
is true.
All the Canadians had sign-
ed contracts to work in freez-
ing plants before they flew to
Fishing fleet at Westman Islands
It is abnormal here to work
only eight hours a day. Every-
body can work almost as long
as he wants to, and the fishing
has been good enough to keep
the freezing plants busy 12 to
18 hours a day.
In Iceland 100,000 Crowns
($2,530) a year is regarded as
good pay for an unskilled
worker, but the Canadians in-
terviewed by the press, said
Mr. Jack had promised 140,000
to 200,000 Crowns a year for
all of them ($3,650-$5,600).
Less Variety
Also, they had to work long-
er hours than expected, and
the food was not what they
were used to. In Iceland they
Iceland so none were coming
here to go fishing.
A Scot
Mr. Jack added: “You can-
not move Manitoba to Ice-
land.” He said one of the
Manitobans was dissatisfied
with the price of Coca Cola,
which he found priced higher
in Iceland than in Canada.
One thing is certain: Mr.
Jack, a minister in a sparsely
populated district in Iceland,
could not have been misunder-
stood due to language diffi-
culties. He is a Scot by birth,
now an Icelandic citizen, who
served as minister with the
Icelanders in Canada for some
Westman Islands
nearly always got fish or
lamb, but were accumstomed
to a greater variety. They also
felt they did not get as many
vegetables here as they got
back home.
Mr. Jack replied that it
would not be fair to compare
wages and prices in Iceland
with those in Canada. Here
the Oanadians agreed. The
years. He was not a stranger
to them.
Among the Canadians are
Thorsteinn and Maria Sigur
dur with their eight-months-
old son. “The accommodation
is worse than we thought it
would be,” they say. “We
thought we would get a whole
flat. We were told that there
were no difficulties in getting
a good flat. Also, we hoped
for higher wages.”
In the Vestmanna Islands
no one expected a baby to be
among the newcomers, so the
freezing plant managers were
not prepared and didn’t have
ready the special facilities a
baby requires.
Our Room
To start with the Sigurdurs
did get only one room for
themselves in the freezing
plant’s dormitory, and they
had all meals in the mess.
Later on, they got a two-room
flat in the dormitory, as it
proved impossible to get a
private house for them in
Vestmanna Islands.
Harold Gauti, a n o t h e r
Manitoban, thought e v e r y
thing was fine. His people
came from Iceland and he has
many relatives here. He wants
to se ethem, and to travel
around the country.
Jbhann Thorsteinsson said
he was disappointed at first,
but was happier now. He
thought he w o u 1 d earn
enough money to be able to
visit Norwáy and Denmark
before returning home.
But Miss Barbara Bardar-
son, a clerk, and Miss Alda
Einarsson, a hairdresser, were
still dissatisfied. They had
come to make money, but
found they would not become
rich in Iceland.
These are just a few voices.
All of the Canadians seem to
like the work itself. It is not
too tiresome,, and they get
along well with the Iceland
ers.
The manager of the biggest
freezing plants in Vestmanna
Islands, Gudlaugur Stefans-
son, said his firm thought that
the Canadians came to Icelanc
because they were jobless at
home. .
“It has never occured to us
to pay them more than our
own people — and I cannot
understand that this has been
offered to them,” he said.
“But we like the Canadians
They are good people and
think they are going to like
it here while they stay. One
must always be prepared for
some change going from one
country to another. We are
doing our best to make it com-
fortable for them here.
“If they have been given a
wrong idea about what it is
here, then we have also been
given a wrong idea about the
reason for their coming here
But all misunderstanding is
being cleared out.
‘Tt takes a few weeks to
adjust to a different work,
different food in a different
country of a different cli
rnate.”
During the summer vaca
tion most of the Canadians
travelled t h r o u g h Iceland
Now they are back to work
filleting cod and haddock for
New Yorkers and quick-freez
ing lobsters for the Hilton
Hotels around the world.
Sometimes they work till late
at night, but never on week-
ends.
No Television
At the Vestmanna Islands
there is not a wide selection of
entertainment: A m o v i e
house, a dance hall, a few
restaurants. Iceland has no
television, but radios can be
tuned to the Icelandic or Eu-
ropean or American programs.
With a good set one can reach
both sides of the Atlantic from
íere in the middle of it.
And Vestmanna Islands
have good connections with
the mainland. There are one
or two daily flights on the
30-minutes leg to Reykjavik,
the capital, and a boat makes
a 10-hour trip several times
a week.
But there, on those rocky
Dut beautiful islands, every-
thing is different from what it
is in Manitoba. No trees, no
flat land, no railways, no
highways; a fishing village,
where boys are born to fight
the stormy Atlantic.
—Winnipeg Free Press,
Sept. 21. 1963.
Komstu að Skarði?
Bjarni Pétursson hinn ríki
(f. 1681, d. 1768) bjó á sinni
tíð stórbúi á Skarði á Skarðs-
strönd. Hann þótti stórbrot-
inn um flest, aflamaður til
fjár, en að sama skapi örlátur
og ekki smátækur í útlátum.
Hann var ölkær og ekki við
eina fjöl felldur í kvenna-
málum. Lifa enn á vörum
manna þar vestra sagnir um
þann breyskleika Bjarna. Ein
af mörgum segir frá því, að
tvær farandkonur hittust á
förnum vegi, og voru sam-
ræður þeirra á þessa leið:
1. „Komstu að Skarði?“
2. „Kom ég að Skarði? Víst
kom ég að Skarði.“
1. „Var Bjarni heima?“
2. „Var Bjarni heima? Víst
var Bjarni heima.“
1. „Beiddi hann þig nokk-
urs?“
2. „Beiddi hann mig nokk-
urs? Víst beiddi hann mig
nokkurs.“
1. „Gerðirðu það fyrir
hann?“
2. „Gerði ég það fyrir
hann? Víst gerði ég það fyrir
hann.“
1. „Gaf hann þér nokkuð í
staðinn?“
2. „Gaf hann mér nokkuð í
staðinn? Víst gaf hann mér
nokkuð í staðinn.“
1. „Hvað gaf hann þér í
staðinn?“
2. „Hvað gaf hann mér í
staðinn? Hann gaf mér í stað-
inn sauðarkrof og smérfjórð-
ung.“
Úr ritsafni
Theodoru Thoroddsen.