Reykjavík Grapevine - Jan 2019, Page 14

14 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 01— 2019
Iceland’s largest labour unions have
been gearing up for an intense strug-
gle for workers’ rights when collective
bargaining negotiations begin in early
2019, with labour leaders working to
reach a consensus on their demands.
A t t h e s a m e
time, Minister of
Finance Bjarni
Benediktsson has
been issuing veiled
threats towards
these unions in
public interviews.
If the union
l e a d e r s s e e m
angry, it might
have something
to do with not
just the Minister’s
threats, but also
what appears to
be an imbalance
of priorities in the
government as a
whole. As such,
it appears all but
certain that 2019 is
going to be a vibrant year for Iceland’s
ongoing labour struggle.
To understand how we got to this
point, it is important to understand how
labour negotiations in Iceland work.
The “worker’s paradise”
Iceland has a highly unionised work-
force; about 80% of all workers are in a
labour union, but the collective bargain-
ing agreement for any given trade
applies to all employers and workers in
that trade whether they are unionised
or not. Further, replacing striking work-
ers—also known as scabbing—is illegal.
Agreements are negotiated every one to
three years, give or take, involving not
just union leaders and management,
but often times also a government arbi-
ter (although they usually only step in
when negotiations between labour
and management are untenable). The
importance of this last point will come
up later.
While this might make Iceland seem
like a worker’s paradise, the reality can
be very different. For example, it might
be illegal to replace striking workers, but
Parliament can order striking workers
back to work if they believe it is within
“the public good”, as they did to strik-
ing airplane mechanics in 2010. Previ-
ous union leaders were often perceived
as too cozy with management, leading
to insignificant gains for workers, and
prompting a major uprising of more
radical-minded leaders this year. Even
then, unions have difficulty keeping up
with their own casework when it comes
to worker exploitation.
All these things have brought us to
where we are now: Iceland’s workers
want their share of the wealth they
produce. But the government in general,
and the Ministry of Finance in particu-
lar, have been adamant in their opposi-
tion to the major demands.
The cost of living
Kveikur, an investigative news
programme on Icelandic public broad-
casting, recently met with Sólveig
Anna Jónsdóttir, the chair of the labour
union Efling; Ragnar Þór Ingólfsson, the
chair of the labour union VR; and Drífa
Snædal, the president of the Confedera-
tion of Icelandic Labour Unions.
All three were on the same page
whenit came to one of their major
demands: raising the minimum wage
by about 40%, to 425,000 ISK per month
before taxes. They justify the demand
in citing the skyrocketing cost of hous-
ing in Iceland, especially in Reykjavík,
where the current minimum wage of
300,000 ISK does not even cover the
average rent in the capital area.
“No room” for wage
increases
That demand will be hard fought. In an
interview Bjarni gave to the magazine
Stundin last July, he stated in no
uncertain terms that “It is obvious,
and has been obvious for a long time
now, that room for wage increases is
little to none.” However, just before
Parliament went on Christmas break,
MPs generously awarded themselves
a 20% payout to parliamentary parties
after having already doubled that payout
in 2018. Further, they also allowed
themselves to hire 17 new assistants
over the next three years, at a cost of
250 million ISK per year.
In an interview Bjarni gave to
Morgunblaðið around this time, he
stated that proposed tax cuts to Iceland’s
lowest paid workers may have to be
reconsidered if labour negotiations
“get out of hand”, effectively threaten-
ing labour leaders with taking money
away from workers in one area if they
demand what he considers too much
money in another.
Take it to the state
Undeterred, Efling, VR and the Akranes
Labour Union issued a joint statement
saying they would be joining forces in
the upcoming collective bargaining
negotiations. Furthermore, they have
said that they will preemptively call
upon the government arbiter to step in,
indicating that they not only anticipate
a hard fight ahead—they are ready for it.
The move is not unprecedented, but it
is highly uncommon. Contrary to popu-
lar belief, labour
u n i o n s g e n e r -
ally seek to avoid
going on strike; the
public perception
of strikes almost
always falls nega-
tively on unions,
no matter what
t h e i r d e m a n d s
actually are. As
such, calling upon
the government
arbiter ahead of
time means more
t h a n j u s t t h e
unions being ready
to take action; it
also means they
are hopeful that
s t r i ke s c a n b e
avoided.
All that said, given the clear and
unmoving positions both sides have
taken, 2019’s labour struggle may indeed
be marked by a strike, perhaps even
more than one. Collectively, the unions
taking the hardest stance have a huge
chunk of the workforce behind them.
Whether the government will choose to
avoid a crisis or force the unions’ hand
remains to be seen.
Two Enter, One
Leaves: Iceland’s
Labour Struggle
It’s the unions versus the Ministry of Finance. Who will win?
Our own dashing Minister of Finance, Bjarni Benediktsson.
Words:
Andie Fontaine
Photos:
Art Bicnick/ASÍ
“Whether
the govern-
ment will
choose to
avoid a crisis
for force the
unions’ hand
remains to
be seen.”
Ragnar Þór, Sólveig Anna and Drífa Snædal