Police Approve Collective Bargaining Agreement

Police have voted in favour of approving the collective bargaining agreement their union had made with the state.

RÚV reports that the results of voting over the agreement have come in. These results showed that police within the National Police Federation of Iceland (LL) have approved the agreement the union made with the government last month.

How things would have gone if the police voted against the agreement is uncertain. This is mostly due to the fact that police have not had the right to strike since 1986. This has led to some creative forms of protest on their part.

Over the past couple months, police have engaged in organised action to push back against their employers, such as declining to fine people for speeding, thereby depriving the state of funds; “calling in sick” en masse, and making random traffic stops to inform motorists of the police’s labour situation.

One of the major points of contention during collective bargaining negotiations was wages. Last month, a police officer with seven years’ experience posted his payslip on Facebook, showing that for a month working full time with extra duties, he took home about 285,000 ISK after taxes – about 15,000 ISK less than the minimum wage proposed earlier this year by numerous major unions.