Who mediates the mediator? Ian McDonald skrifar 6. febrúar 2023 16:31 I write this article as a direct response by the courts, forcing Efling to hand over their membership lists to the state mediator, in order for him to facilitate a union-wide vote on a contract. The courts allowing the mediator to do this sets a terrifying precedent for any future negotiations and for workers rights in Iceland at large. We exist in a time where people around the world are engaged in strike actions and labor organising, because we understand that for far too long we have been given nothing but scraps while the richest in society grow fat from our labor. There is an understanding and a wider sentiment that asking nicely for a living wage does not work any more. Therefore we are forced to exercise our basic right to withhold our labor. It is the only leverage we have. And with that leverage comes the ability to not merely ask for a little more, just enough to tide us over until the next round of negotiations, all the while profits continue to skyrocket and we lose out. No. It means that we have the rare opportunity to ask for a meaningful, substantial, life-changing change to our situation. That is what we on the negotiations committee of Efling have been engaged with for the past 4 months or more. Our position from the outset has been that any agreement which is less than the current level of inflation is NOT a real-terms pay raise. We know this because we on the committee are workers and Efling members, who live every day seeing our wages get chipped away, and the profit from that ends up in the hands of somebody like Halldór Benjamín, who sits and tells us that we should accept less. And now, Aðalsteinn, the state mediator (who has a long and troubling history of working closely with Halldór Benjamín) has decided that we as a union should be forced to vote on the exact same contract which SA have been trying to shove down our throats since day one. Understand this. The scope and remit of the state mediators power means that he could have proposed a union-wide vote on anything. It could have equally been a vote on the first Efling proposal, or some kind of middle ground. But no. He is forcing a vote on something that ONLY favors SA and corporate profits, At the expense of the workers. This goes to show that the state mediator has had no plans to actually do as his job title suggests and find some middle ground which both parties can agree to. He has handed Samtök Atvinnulífsins everything they wanted on a silver platter. This would be bad enough on its face, but for the courts to now intervene and demand that Efling hands over confidential member information, in order to facilitate this sham? That should set off giant ringing alarm bells for anybody watching this who has a modicum of decency, shame, or empathy for working folk. Unfortunately, there are those in society who hate Efling, who despise it's leadership, and would see us fail. Put aside those feelings, and understand that if Efling loses, workers lose. It is as simple as that. We have a prime minister who is asleep at the wheel, we have a criminal for a finance minister who has made no secret of his desire to end union membership, and now we have a state mediator who has shown willing to undermine the one and only tool which workers have for protection. Stand with workers. Now more than ever. The author is an immigrant worker in manufacturing in Iceland and member of the Efling negotiations committee Viltu birta grein á Vísi? Sendu okkur póst. Senda grein Kjaraviðræður 2022-23 Kjaramál Mest lesið Hvar er stjarna Framsóknarflokksins í síðustu kosningum núna? „Barnaverndarpáfinn“! Davíð Bergmann Skoðun Opið bréf til samninganefnda KÍ og SÍS Guðrún Eik Skúladóttir Skoðun Hvenær ætlarðu að flytja heim? Jón Þór Kristjánsson Skoðun Leikskólaverkfall - slæmur draumur Jóhanna Dröfn Stefánsdóttir Skoðun Ný Ölfusárbrú – af hverju svona brú? Guðmundur Valur Guðmundsson Skoðun Verstu kennarar í heimi Gígja Bjargardóttir Skoðun Hefðbundnar og lögmætar hvalveiðar Heiðrún Lind Marteinsdóttir,Vilhjálmur Birgisson,Árni Sverrisson Skoðun Vertu ekki að plata mig Helgi Brynjarsson Skoðun Ólögmæt sóun skattfjár Markús Ingólfur Eiríksson Skoðun Ertu karlmaður á miðjum aldri á breytingarskeiðinu? Gunnar Dan Wiium Skoðun Skoðun Skoðun Ábendingar Sameinuðu þjóðanna um hvað betur megi fara í mannréttindamálum á Íslandi Þórhallur Guðmundsson skrifar Skoðun Blóðmeramálið til umboðsmanns Árni Stefán Árnason skrifar Skoðun Meira fyrir minna: Bætt nýting opinberra fjármuna Álfrún Tryggvadóttir skrifar Skoðun Ný Ölfusárbrú – af hverju svona brú? Guðmundur Valur Guðmundsson skrifar Skoðun Friðhelgar fótboltabullur Hjálmtýr Heiðdal skrifar Skoðun Sex af níu flokkum á móti hvalveiðum Valgerður Árnadóttir skrifar Skoðun Allt fyrir listina Brynhildur Björnsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Tryggjum nýliðun bændastéttarinnar Þórdís Bjarnleifsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Óskalisti minn SIgurlín Margrét Sigurðardóttir skrifar Skoðun Aukin stuðningur við ferðasjóð íþróttafélaga dregur úr ójöfnuði Hannes S. Jónsson skrifar Skoðun Það er þetta með traustið Helga Sigrún Harðardóttir skrifar Skoðun Plan Samfylkingar: Svona náum við niður vöxtunum Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson skrifar Skoðun 6000 íbúðirnar sem vantar - í boði borgarinnar Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Samvinnufélög - sóknarfæri á húsnæðismarkaði? Elín H. Jónsdóttir,Guðrún Johnsen skrifar Skoðun Kæri oddviti Samfylkingarnar í Reykjavíkurkjördæmi suður Kristinn Karl Brynjarsson skrifar Skoðun Það er enginn á vakt Áslaug Ýr Hjartardóttir skrifar Skoðun Svalur, Valur og Hvalur Þorvaldur Logason skrifar Skoðun Opið bréf til samninganefnda KÍ og SÍS Guðrún Eik Skúladóttir skrifar Skoðun Ungt fólk og þörfin fyrir skjótar aðgerðir í menntun Fannar Logi Waldorff Sigurðsson skrifar Skoðun Mikilvægasta launaviðtalið Bessí Þóra Jónsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Leikskólaverkfall - slæmur draumur Jóhanna Dröfn Stefánsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Burt með baráttusöngva úr virkjunarkafla stóriðjustefnunnar Andrés Ingi Jónsson skrifar Skoðun Örugg skref Samfylkingar í geðheilbrigðismálum Alma Möller,Elín Anna Baldursdóttir,Sævar Már Gústavsson skrifar Skoðun Meiri árangur…fyrir útvalda Aðalheiður Marta Steindórsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Ertu karlmaður á miðjum aldri á breytingarskeiðinu? Gunnar Dan Wiium skrifar Skoðun Hvenær ætlarðu að flytja heim? Jón Þór Kristjánsson skrifar Skoðun Verndum íslenskuna- líka á Alþingi Íslendinga Helga Dögg Sverrisdóttir skrifar Skoðun Ungt fólk er meira en bara meme og sketsar á TikTok Skúli Bragi Geirdal skrifar Skoðun Hefðbundnar og lögmætar hvalveiðar Heiðrún Lind Marteinsdóttir,Vilhjálmur Birgisson,Árni Sverrisson skrifar Skoðun Vertu ekki að plata mig Helgi Brynjarsson skrifar Sjá meira
I write this article as a direct response by the courts, forcing Efling to hand over their membership lists to the state mediator, in order for him to facilitate a union-wide vote on a contract. The courts allowing the mediator to do this sets a terrifying precedent for any future negotiations and for workers rights in Iceland at large. We exist in a time where people around the world are engaged in strike actions and labor organising, because we understand that for far too long we have been given nothing but scraps while the richest in society grow fat from our labor. There is an understanding and a wider sentiment that asking nicely for a living wage does not work any more. Therefore we are forced to exercise our basic right to withhold our labor. It is the only leverage we have. And with that leverage comes the ability to not merely ask for a little more, just enough to tide us over until the next round of negotiations, all the while profits continue to skyrocket and we lose out. No. It means that we have the rare opportunity to ask for a meaningful, substantial, life-changing change to our situation. That is what we on the negotiations committee of Efling have been engaged with for the past 4 months or more. Our position from the outset has been that any agreement which is less than the current level of inflation is NOT a real-terms pay raise. We know this because we on the committee are workers and Efling members, who live every day seeing our wages get chipped away, and the profit from that ends up in the hands of somebody like Halldór Benjamín, who sits and tells us that we should accept less. And now, Aðalsteinn, the state mediator (who has a long and troubling history of working closely with Halldór Benjamín) has decided that we as a union should be forced to vote on the exact same contract which SA have been trying to shove down our throats since day one. Understand this. The scope and remit of the state mediators power means that he could have proposed a union-wide vote on anything. It could have equally been a vote on the first Efling proposal, or some kind of middle ground. But no. He is forcing a vote on something that ONLY favors SA and corporate profits, At the expense of the workers. This goes to show that the state mediator has had no plans to actually do as his job title suggests and find some middle ground which both parties can agree to. He has handed Samtök Atvinnulífsins everything they wanted on a silver platter. This would be bad enough on its face, but for the courts to now intervene and demand that Efling hands over confidential member information, in order to facilitate this sham? That should set off giant ringing alarm bells for anybody watching this who has a modicum of decency, shame, or empathy for working folk. Unfortunately, there are those in society who hate Efling, who despise it's leadership, and would see us fail. Put aside those feelings, and understand that if Efling loses, workers lose. It is as simple as that. We have a prime minister who is asleep at the wheel, we have a criminal for a finance minister who has made no secret of his desire to end union membership, and now we have a state mediator who has shown willing to undermine the one and only tool which workers have for protection. Stand with workers. Now more than ever. The author is an immigrant worker in manufacturing in Iceland and member of the Efling negotiations committee
Hvar er stjarna Framsóknarflokksins í síðustu kosningum núna? „Barnaverndarpáfinn“! Davíð Bergmann Skoðun
Hefðbundnar og lögmætar hvalveiðar Heiðrún Lind Marteinsdóttir,Vilhjálmur Birgisson,Árni Sverrisson Skoðun
Skoðun Ábendingar Sameinuðu þjóðanna um hvað betur megi fara í mannréttindamálum á Íslandi Þórhallur Guðmundsson skrifar
Skoðun Kæri oddviti Samfylkingarnar í Reykjavíkurkjördæmi suður Kristinn Karl Brynjarsson skrifar
Skoðun Örugg skref Samfylkingar í geðheilbrigðismálum Alma Möller,Elín Anna Baldursdóttir,Sævar Már Gústavsson skrifar
Skoðun Hefðbundnar og lögmætar hvalveiðar Heiðrún Lind Marteinsdóttir,Vilhjálmur Birgisson,Árni Sverrisson skrifar
Hvar er stjarna Framsóknarflokksins í síðustu kosningum núna? „Barnaverndarpáfinn“! Davíð Bergmann Skoðun
Hefðbundnar og lögmætar hvalveiðar Heiðrún Lind Marteinsdóttir,Vilhjálmur Birgisson,Árni Sverrisson Skoðun