Doctors in Iceland have launched a new series of strikes, starting at midnight. They will not resume work until after four days. The latest meeting between the delegations of the Icelandic Medical Association and the Icelandic state ended at 3 am last night after 13 hours of negotiations. A new meeting has been scheduled for 2 pm today.
Gunnar Björnsson, who leads the state’s negotiation committee, told ruv.is that in some points of discussion, progress has been made, but not in others. The goal is still to reach a conclusion both parties can agree to, he said.
Doctors currently on strike are those working at the Landspítali National University Hospital’s operations and emergency rooms, Icelandic Health Insurance, Social Insurance Administration, State Diagnostic and Counselling Centre, National Hearing and Speech Institute of Iceland, Administration of Occupational Safety and Health, Icelandic Medicines Agency, Directorate of Health and National Institute for the Blind, Visually Impaired and Deafblind.
Doctors in Iceland launched their first series of strike in October 2014, demanding better wages and work conditions, including a 30 percent salary increase, while the state initially offered 3 percent.
