labour
Most read
Latest
-
Labour News: Seamen Postpone Strike, Teachers Ready To Walk
Collective bargaining agreements are the centerpiece of two major labour disputes in Iceland right now: seamen and primary school teachers. Vísir reports that the seamen’s union of Grindavík (SVG) will postpone their strike at 14:00 today, in light of a new collective…
-
Unions Gearing Up For A Stormy 2017
The Icelandic Confederation of Labour (ASÍ) voted last week to increase their strike fund by over 67%, as labour leadership predicts many labour unions will be fighting hard in collective bargaining negotiations in the coming year. RÚV reports that ASÍ will be…
-
Government Workers To Experiment With Shorter Work Week
The Federation of State and Municipal Employees (BSRB) has released an announcement asking for those workplaces that operate under its auspices to indicate if they want to take part in an experiment with a shortened work week for BSRB workers. The labour…
-
Iceland’s Seamen Are About To Go On Strike
Workers in one of Iceland’s largest industries are about to walk out, having been without a contract for six years, and with management proposing to cut their salaries further. DV reports that the vast majority of unionised seamen voted in favour of…
-
Major Fishing Industry Strike In The Works
Iceland’s largest industry may come to a halt this November, as seamen are aiming to go on strike that month if no settlement can be reached between labour and management. Vísir reports that Iceland’s seamen have been working without a valid collective…
-
Union Criticises Law On Air Traffic Controllers
The Director of the Federation of State and Municipal Employees (BSRB) has spoken up against a recent parliamentary measure forcing air traffic controllers to work overtime. In an article she wrote for Fréttablaðið, BSRB Director Elín Björg Jónsdóttir spoke up about a…
-
Unions Investigating Stay Apartments
The labour union Efling is now investigating a tourist apartment company which fired eight cleaning workers for wanting their own bathroom and break room. Tryggvi Marteinsson of Efling told Vísir that the former employees of Stay Apartments have brought their case to…
-
10% Of Working Icelanders Employed In Tourism Industry
Iceland’s tourism industry has become a major source of employment in Iceland, and demand for labour will continue to grow. Kjarninn reports that according to new data from the Tourism Task Force, about 22,000 people work in Iceland’s tourism industry, comprising 10%…
-
Loophole In Law Regarding Human Trafficking
The head of Iceland’s work supervisory authority says there is no law which can shut down an establishment for human trafficking. Vísir spoke with Eyjólfur Sæmundsson, the Director of the Administration of Occupational Safety and Health (AOSH), regarding a case of suspected…
-
Management: Shortened Work Week “Economic Terrorism”
A representative of management has expressed grave misgivings about a shortened work week, despite positive results from a city experiment with the idea. Kvennablaðið reports that Hannes G. Sigurðsson, the assistant managing director of Business Iceland, gave a candid interview with Viðskiptablaðið…
-
Icelanders Work Longer Hours Than Other Nordic People
Icelanders work as many or more hours per week than other Nordic people, but shortening fulltime hours at some workplaces has already proved very promising. RÚV reports that a steering committee for the City of Reykjavík that has been researching the effects…
-
Reykjavík’s Shortened Work Week Experiment Yields Positive Results
A year-long experiment with shorter work weeks at select Reykjavík City workplaces has shown encouraging results. Vísir reports that at the end of an experiment that reduced the full-time hours for employees at some municipal workplaces, productivity continued at the same level,…
-
Foreign Construction Workers Overworked, Underpaid
About 50 foreign construction workers were working far too many hours for far too little pay in north Iceland. A union official told reporters that “no one will get away with this kind of treatment.” Vísir reports that 50 Polish workers brought…
-
Labour Dispute At Rio Tinto Alcan At Standstill
A union official described management’s offer at yesterday’s negotiations to be “many steps backwards”, and other options for action may have to be considered. Yesterday, representatives of workers and management at Rio Tinto Alcan met for negotiations, which were arbitrated by a…
-
Immigrant Labour Crucial To Economic Sustainability
Thousands of immigrants will be needed to enter the Icelandic job market every year for the economy to sustain itself, industry experts predict. “We need foreign workers, untrained and specialists alike,” Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir, Director of the Federation of Icelandic Industries (SI), told…
-
Bosses Offload Aluminium At Rio Tinto Alcan
Management managed to load some 3,000 tonnes of aluminium onto out-bound ships, and unions are awaiting further negotiations. RÚV reports that last Tuesday the County Seat allowed Rio Tinto Alcan to let 15 members of management at the smelter conduct the offloading…
-
Icelanders View Foreign Workers Positively
Icelanders are more tolerant towards foreign workers than many other nations, according to the results of a new Gallup poll. Gallup recently polled a sample of the Icelandic populace for their opinions on foreign workers. RÚV reports that about 60% of respondents…
-
Smelter Workers Strike, Bosses Attempt To Replace Them
Workers at the Rio Tinto Alcan smelter went on strike at midnight last night, bringing aluminium exports from the smelter to a halt. Management is hoping to do the jobs of the employees, but who may work where is being disputed. The…
-
Management And Trade Unions Against Shorter Work Week
Representatives of both labour and management oppose a bill that would shorten the fulltime work week from 40 hours to 35, but opinions did not divide along a simple binary. The bill in question is still in the first round of parliamentary…
-
Icewear Denies Knowledge Of Slave Labour
New developments have arisen in a case of slave labour in south Iceland. The managing director of Icewear has disavowed any knowledge of worker conditions, while the man responsible for forcing two women from Sri Lanka to sew clothing for Icewear is…
-
Unions Warn Against “Volunteer Jobs”
Some employers are advertising to foreigners for volunteers to do work people are supposed to be paid for. A union official says they regularly monitor such postings, which are violations of Icelandic labour law. The website workaway.info offers volunteer jobs around the…
-
Foreign Workers More Likely To Be Exploited Than Locals
A union official has confirmed that foreign workers fall victim to worker exploitation to a proportionately greater degree than their Icelandic co-workers. RÚV reports that over the past two years, the labour union Efling has dealt with some 400 cases of workers…
-
Work Stoppages Announced At Rio Tinto Alcan
Work stoppages to begin next week at the smelter will bring aluminium exports to a stand-still, as workers try to gain leverage for wage increases. Vísir reports that the stoppages are to begin on February 24, and will continue indefinitely. The workers…