The Icelandic Confederation of Labour Unions (ASÍ) has accused the Confederation of Icelandic Employers (SA) of engaging in a misinformation campaign during a sensitive time in collective bargaining negotiations.
A recent television public service announcement from SA contends that Iceland’s rate of inflation since the 2008 bank crash has been due to wages being raised. ASÍ has called the PSA “tasteless” and inaccurate.
“In their especially tasteless way, they imply that the demands of working people for higher wages is the reason for inflation,” the union statement reads. Rather, the union contends that the Icelandic krónur is “a weak currency that regularly collapses” in spectacular style.
“If the people of SA had approached the subjected honourably … they would have seen that wage increases in Iceland have been on par with those that have occurred in other Nordic countries.”
The current collective bargaining agreement between labour and management will run out at the end of this year. The union has repeatedly called for a short-term stop gap agreement to avoid a crisis, while a longer-lasting agreement can be worked on later.
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