Healthcare assistants submit settlement proposal to employers

The Faroese Healthcare Assistants’ Association has submitted a settlement proposal to the Municipal Employers’ Association, KVF reports. The employers’ association is now calculating the cost of the proposal.

“We have been in contact with KAF chairman Per Martin Gregersen for some time,” said Mary Antonsdóttir, chair of the Healthcare Assistants’ Association. The two sides have met for an informal coffee meeting to restart dialogue, and she has now presented a proposal from the association’s board as a final attempt to reach an agreement.

The association currently has no wage agreement. Its previous agreement expired on October 1, 2025, and the other party to the negotiations is the Municipal Employers’ Association.

Other circumstances and parties are also affecting the negotiations. In February, 12 public-sector unions reached an agreement with the Ministry of Finance on a joint wage framework that, among other things, limits the wage framework available to other unions.

Neither the Healthcare Assistants’ Association nor the Municipal Employers’ Association is part of that agreement. However, any agreement between the two organisations must be approved by the Ministry of Finance.

Antonsdóttir said the association had been somewhat constrained by an agreement reached by other unions with the ministry. She said the association was negotiating with KAF and should not be bound by that agreement, even though the Ministry of Finance must approve its settlement under the Local Government Act.

She said her expectations had improved following her recent communication with Gregersen and that the association would now await KAF’s response.