Unions slam government strike plan
Photo: Styrmir Kári
Members of two Icelandic unions currently on strike over pay have descended on Reykjavik’s Parliament Square (‘Austurvöllur’) this morning in protest at government plans to legislate against their industrial action.
The Icelandic Association of Academics (BHM) has been on strike since early April and the Icelandic Association of Nurses (FÍH) since 27 May. Talks with the State to resolve their respective pay disputes have repeated collapsed.
Legislation to postpone strike action
The Icelandic government convened at short notice last night and agreed at a cabinet meeting to move a parliamentary motion legislating against the ongoing strike action.
The intention is to submit the bill to the Icelandic Parliament (‘Alþingi’) as soon as possible today. Today’s session was scheduled to begin at 10am and the BHM/FÍH demonstration began at the same time.
The bill calls for all strike action to be halted until 1 July and for the parties involved to use that time to strike a deal. If this does not happen, the case will be sent to a court of arbitration.
Union outrage
FÍH Chairperson, Ólafur G. Skúlason, has expressed his deep disappointment at this outcome. “I fear this will have a very negative impact on the Icelandic health service,” he stated yesterday evening, in response to the cabinet decision. “From what I have heard, I fear [a number of nurse resignations].”
Þórunn Sveinbjarnardóttir, Chairperson of BHM, did not mince her words either in her reaction to the proposed legislation. “This government decision proves what BHM has long suspected: that the negotiation process was meant to starve us into submission. This was unsuccessful and I imagine this is why the government is taking this path,” she stated.
Negative political reaction
The move has also drawn criticism from the parliamentary opposition.
“I do not like this one bit,” says Guðmundur Steingrímsson, leader of the Bright Future party (‘Björt framtíð’). “I feel that the government has handled this issue extremely carelessly. I hold the government entirely responsible if this is the outcome. I can have no part in this.”
Katrín Jakobsdóttir, leader of the Left-Green Movement (‘Vinstrihreyfingin – Grænt framboð’), remains unconvinced that every effort has been made to negotiate a settlement. “I find it rather incongruous that the government feels it cannot do more to safeguard the working conditions of these workers while at the same time announcing tax cuts.”
“These strikes must end immediately”
The bill will be moved by the Icelandic Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture, Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson.
“These strikes must end immediately if an unpleasant situation is to be avoided. The situation that has arisen is intolerable and will cause irreparable damage to many patients and the health service as a whole, both in the short and long term. The Government must now put an end to this situation in one way or another,” reads a government statement.
Photo: Styrmir Kári
Photo: Styrmir Kári
