Primary school teachers as well as staff at elderly homes in Iceland are holding a one day strike today. Nurses went on strike earlier this week.
As reported, Icelandair cabin crew and pilots have also been planning a series of one day strikes over the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the government has submitted a draft bill banning Icelandair pilots from striking over the next few weeks after negotiations between the airline and the Union of Icelandic Pilots on a new collective bargaining agreement collapsed yesterday. They had planned a series of strikes, the second of which was scheduled to take place tomorrow.
The strikes are estimated to affect around 5,000 travelers per day. The plan is for the bill to become law as soon as possible, perhaps before midday today, ruv.is reports.
Icelandair has announced that the strike by the airline’s pilots could cost the company at least ISK 1.5-1.7 billion (USD 13.3-15 million, EUR 9.6 million-11 million). The strikes have also been affecting other businesses in Iceland. According to Gunnar Valur Sveinsson, project manager at the Icelandic Travel Industry Association, some tourists have already canceled their trips to the country.
So many strikes, or planned strikes, have not taken place in Iceland for decades.
