Reykjavík Grapevine - mar. 2023, Blaðsíða 4

The Reykjavík
Grapevine
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Catharine Fulton
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The Reykjavík Grapevine
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Negotiations are stalling
Diving right in, ongoing wage
negotiations between labour
union Efling and the Confedera-
tion of Icelandic Enterprise (SA)
can best be characterised as feisty,
with the former threatening
at every twist and turn to have
its members — which form the
backbone of the nation’s tourism
industry — go on strike.
In fact, SA has called Efling’s
demands “unworkable,” while
state mediator Aðalsteinn Leifs-
son said of the negotiations, “in
this dispute I see no solution,”
Heimildin reports.
It would seem that Efling has
been offered a contract on the
same terms and conditions that a
number of other unions negotiat-
ing with SA agreed to in 2022, but
Efling — led by media darling
Solveig Anna Jónsdóttir — is
asking for a slightly greater wage
increase so her union’s members
aren’t seeing the entire pay bump
eaten up by Iceland’s astronomical
inflation.
Adding to the drama, Aðalste-
inn technically has the authority
to present the contract proposal
directly to Efling members,
even if the union’s negotiating
committee isn’t on board with it.
Not having any of that, Efling is
refusing to hand over its member-
ship list. So long as that member-
ship list remains in Efling’s
hands, members can’t be sent any
proposal on which to vote.
That move by the union
appears to have the support of the
the federation of public worker
unions and the teachers union,
who said in a joint statement:
"Disarming a union of its strike
weapon is a serious action and a
major state intervention. When
a mediation proposal is used, it
affects not only the union in ques-
tion, but all other unions in the
country and can create a danger-
ous precedent. Based on the
circumstances and the informa-
tion currently available, we make
serious comments on the decision
of the state mediator to submit a
mediation proposal at this point."
While all that bickering has been
going on, the 300 Efling members
of the Íslandshótel chain of hotels
voted Jan. 30 to go on strike, and
the union said more strike action
is in the works. Íslandshótel
employees will walk off the job
Feb. 7 if a solution to the current
stalemate isn’t found before then.
Police are packing
After so many attempts by right-
leaning members of government
to put weapons in the hands of
Reykjavík police officer that we’ve
lost count, it looks like it’s actually
going to happen. Justice Minister
Jón Gunnarsson announced in
January that he is taking steps
toward arming police officers
with Tasers, saying cops in the
capital could be armed in the next
six months.
Of his efforts to get police
packing, Jón said in Jan. 2022,
“Our police are people just like
us and have families. It is natural
that there might be some fear
amongst police officers when
they are dispatched to a difficult
call. We are examining whether it
would be natural to take a middle
stance and take up tasers, which
has a great deal of experience
around the world, amongst other
places in neighbouring countries.”
He also pointed out that cops
currently carry pepper spray and
clubs, and clubs can cause serious
physical injury, but tasers might
help prevent that. We’re of the
mind that it’s not the clubs caus-
ing injury, but the people wielding
them. So who’s going to be wield-
ing the Tasers?
Don’t Tase Me Bro,
Let’s Negotiate
The TL;DR of Icelandic News
Words: Catharine Fulton
Images: Various news outlets, Grapevine Graphics Dept.
The top rep for the employer association, Halldór Benjamín,
worked to destabilise the trade unions with ever wilder hair
Efling, the blue-collar worker union, responded with a
shocking show of force, presenting in uniform bomber jackets
4The Reykjavík
Grapevine 2/23
Best before:
March 2, 2023 FRONT
The trade-union fashion wars of 2022-3
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