Saga - 2002, Side 151

UPPHAF „FÉLAGSMÁLAPAKKA'
149
with three consecutive, trilatera'l agreements negotiated between trade
unions, employers and centre-right coalition govemments.
The first agreement was concluded in 1963, with the direct intervention
of conservative PM Ólafur Thors, and resembles the Swedish corporatist
model, which was felt to have proven its worth
In the spring, summer and autumn of 1964, many events led to a very
positive outcome. Under pressure for improved labour relations, an
agreement was reached between the three afore-mentioned parties. The
govemment, now led by the former conservative Minister of Justice,
Bjami Benediktsson, gave a declaration of intent in June, outlining numer-
ous ideas for state assistance to improve the dire housing situation in the
Reykjavík area. The immense difficulties caused by post-war migratory
trends would be coherently tackled and dealt with, turning Reykjavík into
a capital worthy of the name. Govemment fiscal policy played a part in
the events unfolding in the autumn of 1964. The state had to limit its
demands on tax payers within the framework of the state budget. Major
steps had been taken - after decades of inflationary pressures - to reduce
inflation in the Icelandic economy in an organised manner.
In early spring 1965, PM Bjami Benediktsson summoned the social
partners to the negotiation table. The tone for the labour negotiations had
been set when the trade unions of North and East Iceland concluded early
agreements with employers. Trade unions in the Reykjavík vicinity decid-
ed to wait and see, making numerous and specific demands. Finnbogi
Rútur Valdimarsson, brother to the President of ASÍ. (the Icelandic Trade
Union Federation) and former school friend of the PM came up with the
idea of building one thousand new homes in the city of Reykjavík. This
idea, introduced through some clever personal diplomacy, enabled the
resolution of the stand-off between the three parties in question.
An agreement was eventually signed by the employers and the trade
unions and a corresponding declaration issued by the govemment of
Iceland in July 1965. This agreement meant that one thousand new homes
would be built in Breiðholt, a new suburb of Reykjavík. These new homes
should be made available to low-paid labourers of the Reykjavík local
trade rmion, Dagsbrún, but also of other trade unions in Reykjavík, with
subsidized financing from the national treasury.
According to the agreement this programme of large-scale housing con-
struction was to be executed during the next 5-10 years. In reality it took
10 to 15 years, although most of the housing was ready in 1975,10 years
after the launching of the initial programme.