For the first time in the municipality’s history, Árborg in South Iceland has reported no wage gap for the municipality’s thousand-some employees.
Fjóla Kristinsdóttir, mayor of Árborg, stated to Vísir that she was “extremely proud of this achievement.” She noted that it was particularly impressive given the large size of the municipality and their many employees, though she also stated “this is naturally what we have to do according to the law.”
On how the municipality achieved this milestone in social justice, Fjóla stated that “I’m not trying to own this accomplishment. It’s just our great staff who have been working hard on this.”
There are around 1,000 employees in Árborg municipality, with women now considerably more represented than men. Now, however, the basic wage for all is the same, something that was not always the case.
The news is significant in its timing as well, coming near the anniversary of Women’s Day Off. On October 24, 1975, women in Iceland staged a historic strike, now known as Women’s Day Off. With nearly 90% of Iceland’s women participating in the strike, they walked out of both jobs and domestic labour for the day. The following year, legislation ensuring equal pay was passed.
