Icelandair rejects seven-day delay to planned strike

Icelandair has rejected an offer from the Icelandic Aircraft Engineers Association, known as FVFÍ, to postpone planned strike action by seven days, mbl.is reported on Monday. Unless circumstances change, the action will begin at midnight leading into Wednesday.

“It is disappointing to face a situation where we want to keep the dialogue going with the aim of finding a solution to the dispute, but receive no response,” FVFÍ said in a statement.

The association said it had repeatedly offered to meet with Icelandair to seek an agreement. It said it had strongly wanted to use the available time to find a solution at the negotiating table before a work stoppage began.

“We have also offered to meet with ministers about the matter without success, although we have been received by permanent secretaries in two ministries,” the statement said.

Talks between the negotiating parties had made progress over the weekend, according to FVFÍ. With the involvement of the state mediator, the parties held exploratory discussions that led the mediator to present an internal proposal for them to work on. The association said it had been prepared to continue working on the proposal.

FVFÍ said it had offered to postpone the planned action for seven days to give the parties time to continue working on the proposal and assess whether it could lead to an agreement.

“This morning, we received the news that Icelandair had rejected that offer,” the statement said.

The association said the decision was primarily disappointing, but also raised questions about the actual state of the negotiations.

“When one negotiating party is prepared to contribute to finding a settlement, give the talks more time and work with the state mediator’s proposal, but that opportunity is not accepted, it is reasonable to ask whether there is a genuine willingness to negotiate,” FVFÍ said.