A vote on the temporarily-appointed state mediator’s new proposal will end at 10 AM today. The results of the vote are expected to be in shortly thereafter. Results expected shortly after voting closes On March 1, temporarily-appointed state mediator Ástráður Haraldsson called a press conference to announce that representatives from the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise […]
The University of Iceland is inaugurating a new program this fall: a minor in Polish Studies. RÚV reports that the university’s Polish language courses have been popular, particularly among elementary school teachers. Some 20,000 people of Polish origin live in Iceland, making it the largest single immigrant group in the country. The new program has […]
Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, entered into a fiery Twitter debate with Icelandic entrepreneur and philanthropist Haraldur Þorleifsson, who was laid off from the company last month. Musk implied that Haraldur, known as Halli, had not been fulfilling his job requirements at Twitter, while Halli asked whether Twitter would pay him the severance the […]
The Icelandic Confederation of Enterprise (SA) had the legal right to call a lockout of Efling Union workers in the ongoing wage negotiations between the two parties, Iceland’s Labour Court has ruled. SA was also legally allowed to let all of its member companies vote on the lockout, even those that do not have Efling […]
Chief Epidemiologist Guðrún Aspelund believes that COVID-19 is the only possible explanation for excess mortality in Iceland last year, RÚV reports. Guðrún emphasised that vaccinations had in all likelihood reduced mortality and that the number of deaths was to be explained by a large number of infections. COVID-19 deaths on the rise again After a […]
The number of unhoused individuals dwelling in emergency shelters has increased. These individuals are also dwelling in shelters for longer than before, RÚV reports. An inquiry from a representative of the People’s Party As noted in a response from the Reykjavík City Welfare Council to an inquiry from a representative of the People’s Party, the […]
Yesterday, the City Council of Reykjavík approved the mayor’s proposal to close down the Reykjavík Municipal Archives. The operations of the Municipal Archives would be incorporated into the National Archives of Iceland. Historians and archivists have criticised the decision, RÚV reports. Operations to be transferred to the National Archives Yesterday, Reykjavík City Council approved Mayor […]
A new bill that would increase Icelandic police’s powers to monitor people who are not suspected of crimes is concerning to the Chairman of the Icelandic Bar Association. The Association submitted plenty of comments on the Justice Minister’s amendment bill to the Police Act, RÚV reports. Decisions on surveillance would rest solely in police hands […]
The ferry that connects the 53 residents of Grímsey island to the mainland of Iceland will be out of commission for 6-8 weeks this spring for regular maintenance, RÚV reports. No backup transportation has yet been found to move either people or goods to and from the island during that period. One local city councillor […]
Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir, Chair of the Efling union, believes that putting the state mediator’s new proposal to a vote was “the right decision.” Sólveig told Vísir that claiming that any kind of victory had been achieved was preposterous, given that SA had been unwilling to negotiate directly with Efling. Lockouts and strikes postponed After temporarily-appointed […]
