A new short-term contract has been reached between SGS, one of Iceland’s larger trade unions and SA, the Federation of Icelandic Employers. The agreement was reached on Saturday, December 3, between 17 of SGS’s member organisations and SA. Notably, Efling, SGS’s largest member organisation, was not a signatory to the agreement.
Rising interest rates have complicated wage negotiations between many of Iceland’s trade unions and SA, with short-term contracts seen as a compromise to cope with the immediate impact of inflation and interest rates, without locking unions and employers into longer-term contracts that may not be suited to economic conditions in the traditional three-year period.
The short-term contract will be valid from November 2022 to the end of January 2024. It includes a flat minimum raise, as well as more holidays and adjustments for inflation.
Read more: VR Leaves Negotiating Table
However, the recent SGS contract has come under heavy criticism.
Kristján Þórður Snæbjarnarson, acting chairperson of the Confederation of Iceland Labour after Drífa Snædal’s resignation earlier this year, stated that the agreement was not suitable for craftsmen. He expressed his wish that the trade unions would stand together during the negotiating process, but that the inconclusive Confederation of Labour Congress earlier this year caused many fault lines to form within the Icelandic labour movement.
“As I said after the congress,” stated Kristján to RÚV, “I believed that we could take positive steps forward to strengthen the union. Just like our congressional elections are supposed to do. But it didn’t work, so this is what it’s come to. What we need to do is work on our internal issues and find a way forward.”
Read more: Rising Interest Rates Complicate Upcoming Wage Negotiations
In light of difficult labour market conditions, the current round of wage negotiations was seen by many in the labour movement as a time for solidarity in applying pressure against SA, the employer’s union. The recent agreement between SGS and SA is seen by some as a betrayal of labour solidarity at a time when workers hold more power over their employers than usual.
Sólveig Anna, chairperson of the Efling union, has also been critical of the contract. She stated to RÚV: “We, of course, do not agree to take part in some deception where what people have already won is being simply repackaged and sold back to them.”
Efling is notable as having gone into their negotiations with very ambitious demands.
Along with Sólveig Anna, Vilhjálmur Birgisson, chairperson of SGS, and Ragnar Þór Ingólfsson, chairperson of VR, together represent some of the largest labour organisations in Iceland. The SGS contract, however, has driven a divide between these figures.
In a post on social media, Vilhjálmur stated his side of the case, saying that he was “saddened to see people he considered friends stab him in the back.” He also accused other members of the labour movement of leaking details of the contract to complicate the agreement, and of treating the recent agreement “as if a crime had been committed.”
