First Strike Paralysed Air Traffic

The first of four half-day strikes at Iceland’s airports just finished, paralysing air traffic coming in and out of the country, reports RÚV.

The strike began at 4 am and ended at 9 am.

Check-in, which usually begins at 4:30 am did not do so this morning. No one was allowed in or out of the departure area because security personnel were not available to run the security check, luggage was not loaded for the same reason.

Kristján Jóhannsson, FFR Union Head, said that the strike went very well. “Everything is nice and calm over here and that’s all there is to say about that,” said Kristján. “We are very happy with how people have handled our [strike].”

As reported, roughly 400 ISAVIA employees, who run Iceland’s airports, voted in favour of holding four half-day strikes if a collective bargaining agreement was not met by today.

Three additional half-day strikes are planned throughout this month unless an agreement is made. If there is still no collective bargaining agreement at the end of April then a general strike will begin.