Will Icelandic Nurses Go on Strike June 22?
From Landspítali National University Hospital. Archive photo. mbl.is/Kristinn Magnússon
One of the hindrances still to overcome before Iceland’s borders reopen June 15 is a wage dispute between registered nurses and the state. Friday, last week, nurses voted to go on strike for an indefinite period, starting June 22, if an agreement is not reached by that time, Morgunblaðið reports.
Two thirds of nurses in Iceland work for the state. They work at Landspítali National University Hospital, at public health clinics, at Akureyri Hospital, and at other public healthcare facilities. The strike was approved by 85.5 of the vote.
A wage contract, signed between representatives of the state and nurses on April 10, was later rejected by 53 percent of nurses who took part in voting. The major demand nurses are making is for an increase in basic pay.
Minister of Health Svandís Svavarsdóttir stated yesterday that reaching an agreement with nurses is essential, not least due to the planned testing of tourists for the novel coronavirus at Keflavík International Airport and other ports of entry, starting June 15, but also because nurses are among the key professions in the health care sector, mbl.is reports.
Páll Matthíasson, CEO of Landspítali, has expressed deep worry about the planned strike, since a hospital cannot operate without nurses. “It must not come to a strike; it’s as simple as that,” he wrote in his latest weekly post. He urged the negotiating parties to reach an agreement in time.
The CEO of nursing at public health clinics in the capital area has stated that testing for the virus at the border is impossible without the participation of nurses.
Finally, at yesterday’s press conference, Director of Health Alma Möller called the situation in the wage dispute a threat to the testing project.
Yesterday’s negotiating session between the state and nurses lasted three hours, and no new meeting has been called. State Mediator Aðalsteinn Leifsson described the meeting as tough. “We want to use the coming days as well as we can to seek a solution to avert a strike,” Sverrir Jónsson, head of the state’s negotiating committee stated.
