Saga - 1991, Qupperneq 63

AÐSKILNAÐUR ALÞÝÐUFLOKKS OG ASÍ
61
Margrét Haraldsdóttir: Islensk verkalýðshreyfing og sjálfstæðismenn í henni.
Óprentuð B.A. ritgerð í stjórnmálafræði 1988.
Sigurður Pétursson: Samþættur strengur. Stofnun og starf Alþýðusambands Íslands
og Alþýðuflokksins 1916-1930. Óprentuð cand. mag. ritgerð í sagnfræði 1990.
Viðtöl höfundar við heimildarmenn
Hermann Guðmundsson 12. mars 1990.
Pétur Pétursson 13. mars 1990.
Asgeir Pétursson 19. mars 1990.
Summary
The organizational structure of the Icelandic labour movement was dual dur-
ing the period 1916-1942: comprising a national Federation of Labour (ASÍ)
and a socialist labour party (Alþýðuflokkurinn). In 1930 a split occurred in the
Labour Party, when the communist left wing left the party to form the Com-
munist Party of Iceland. The social democrats remaining in the Labour Party
reacted to this by changing the regulations of the Icelandic Federation of
Labour. Thus, after 1930, all representatives at the Federation's congresses
were required to be members of the Labour Party.
This development led to a growing confrontation between social demo-
crats and communists in individual labour unions. The communists wanted
a Federation of Labour independent of any single political party, and main-
tained that they could cooperate with the social democrats within the
framework of such an organizational structure. The majority of the social
democrats opposed this view, holding that it was essential to the Federation
to control a political party.
This opinion was not shared by a number of influential social democrats.
Among those desiring close co-operation with the communists was the vice-
chairman of the party, Héðinn Vatdimarsson. In 1938 this led to new confron-
tations within the Labour Party, resulting in Héðinn Valdimarsson and the
left wing of the party leaving to found a new political party with the com-
rnunists: The Socialist Unity Party. Héðinn Valdimarsson was the chairman
°f Dagsbrún, the largest trade union in Reykjavík and had strong support in
the labour movement, whereas the new chairman of the Labour Party, Stefán
lóhann Stefánsson, had never been a member of a trade union.
A new labour relations act was passed in 1938 on the initiative of the
Labour Party and the Progressive Party. This recognized the rights of trade
unions to negotiate terms on behalf of their members and made it illegal for