"It would just be dishonest of me to say that I'm optimistic"
Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir, the chairman of Efling yesterday after the negotiations had been cancelled. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson
“We have been working hard to find solutions and ways in the last days. The solutions and ways we discussed, and were working with, were all within the cost of the Icelandic Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise (SA) in relation to other collective bargaining agreements,” Efling chairperson Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir tells mbl.is.
It was reported earlier that the negotiations between Efling and the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise (SA) had been terminated without a deal in hand. That means that the Efling strikes are now back on.
Says Þorbergsson is wrong
SA CEO Halldór Benjamin Þorbergsson spoke to reporters after the acting state mediator, Ástráður Haraldsson, revealed that the negotiations were at a standstill.
Þorbergsson said SA had offered Efling a special Efling deal, but that Efling’s demands had been higher than SA could have accepted.
Halldór Benjamín Þorbergsson (left) the Director general of SA and Ástráður Haraldsson (right), the acting state mediator, walk out after the negotiations came to a standstill. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson
“We had reached the point of exhaustion of the framework of preparing what we call the Efling deal. If Efling had stopped there, I believe we could have reach a consensus here today, but at the end of the day, Efling’s demands were simply much higher,” Þorbergsson says.
But Jónsdóttir totally rejects this: “This is simply wrong.”
Possibly never a will to close the deal
Jónsdóttir says that for a while the negotiations were going well, but then something suddenly changed for SA.
“For a time we believed that we were making progress. But then, today, the mood changed abruptly and the will that possibly existed disappeared on the part of SA.”
Asked why she believes the mood has changed today, Jónsdóttir says:
"Possibly, there was never any real will to close the deal."
There was nothing specific that came up between the parties?
“Not on our side. We’ve just been there in very good faith and with a strong will to end this,” she says.
No new meeting scheduled
Haraldsson told journalists today that he did not believe there was a reason at this time to call a new meeting.
Asked if she believes the parties will be able to resume talks this week, Sólveig says:
"At this point, it would just be dishonest of me to say that I'm optimistic."
