Iceland’s Eurovision Attendance In Danger?

The looming general strike might put Iceland’s Eurovision attendance in jeopardy, reports MBL.

Currently there are upwards of 2,000 documents waiting to be notarised in Reykjavík’s District Commissioner’s Office and you guessed it, notaries are among the 50,000 workers hailing from a wide range of fields and industries fighting for an increased minimum wage.

One of the 2,000 documents awaiting to be notarised are papers certifying the Icelandic jury’s ruling that María Ólafsdóttir won the Söngvakeppni, making her Iceland’s representative at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Notaries striking affects more than just Eurovision however, loan agreements, mortgages, death certificates, parliamentary documents etc can not be certified and no licences can be issued or renewed without them.

As reported, with little room for agreement between labour and management on the subject of increasing the minimum wage, a general strike is likely to begin in May.

In all, some 50,000 workers comprise the Federation of General and Special Workers in Iceland (SGS) and currently the key demand is to raise the minimum wage for their workers to 300,000 ISK per month over the next three years.

Currently, the base salary of an SGS worker is 201,317 ISK, raising to 214,000 after four months work. Most workers will not see more than 222,030 per month after seven years on the job.