Say children a discriminated against by this selective strike action

Parents of children in preschools where teacher strikes are currently ongoing, most of them from the Preschool Drafnarsteinn in Vesturbær but also from Seltjarnarnes’s Preschool, protested the strike action of the Icelandic Teachers' Union in Reykjavík City Hall today. The parents that mbl.is spoke to find it unfair that their children are the only ones on indefinite strike, but there is a strike at four kindergartens in the country as a whole, including one in Reykjavík.

Hardly a mention of the strike

"We just want to draw attention to ourselves because we feel like we are powerless against these strike actions. We don't see how collective power and solidarity [of parents of children in preschools] can be maintained when there are only a few of us who find ourselves in this situation. This is a dire situation for many parents when life turns upside down. We are in a different position to take sick leave and summer vacation days while this is going on. Now doctors are going on strike and it's taking up space, so this strike has barely been mentioned in the media," says the parent, Salka Sól Eyfeld.

The strategy misses the mark

She says that parents feel like their children are being discriminated against.

"My friends didn't even know about this strike when I talked to them yesterday. My mom is a teacher and I understand the use of this strike weapon. But we question this strategy. It is missing the mark, especially when doctors are preparing for strike action," says Eyfeld.

So far, strikes are going on in nine schools in the country, including four kindergartens. In Seltjarnarnes, in Reykjavík, Reykjanesbær and in Sauðárkrókur. There are also temporary strike actions in three elementary schools and two schools at the secondary school level. In the town hall, you could see the children playing, but they also moved in front of the mayor's office and sang.

"It has no bite"

Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson and Steinn Linnet say they stand with the teachers but do not understand this strike action.

"It has no bite and discriminates against the children who are put in this position. I would have understood if these were temporary measures that would perhaps travel between kindergartens, rather than putting a small group in this position. Discrimination is being practiced. But of course, teachers should be paid a decent salary for their work,' Sigurðsson says.

Steinn Linnet agrees with Hafsteinn. "Perhaps it would have been better if all kindergartens went on strike or if the strike moved between them. We know that strike funds are small and therefore difficult to sustain a strike for a long time. But you also think it is important that people know that teachers are being denied the pay benefits they were promised in 2016. Pension rights have already been reduced, but instead, they were promised pay benefits that are closer to the general market. So their rights have been taken away without anything coming in return," Linnet says.

"Don't understand why our kindergarten was chosen"

Valný Aðalsteinsdóttir says that she and her daughter Ylfa's purpose in coming to the town hall is to draw attention to the fact that there are people who are affected by these measures. "We don't think it's acceptable and not fair to our children," she says.

She adds the teachers' demands have nothing to do with the protests and that she supports teachers.

"But these measures are nevertheless very difficult and affect very few households. There are 6,500 children in Reykjavík, but about 100 are affected by this. It's just unfair. We don't understand why our kindergarten was chosen," Aðalsteinsdóttir says.

Teachers' rights must be respected

Mayor of Reykjavík, Einar Þorsteinsson, says he understands the parents' position well. He says not being able to go to school can have a very negative effect on children.

"We have heard stories that children with special needs dislike this lack of routine. Then working people cannot get to work and have to stay at home. It is a serious matter, but of course, we must at the same time respect the right of teachers to use their strike weapon," Þorsteinsson says.

Are the parties any closer to reaching an agreement?

"I don't sit at this negotiation table and have to trust the negotiation committees of the municipalities and the Teachers' Association to solve this with a government mediator," Þorsteinsson says.