Vilhjálmur says union deals repeat an offer rejected earlier

Vilhjálmur Birgisson, head of the Federation of General and Special Workers in Iceland, says agreements signed by VR, LÍV and Fagfélögin on Thursday were largely based on an offer that had already been available the previous Monday, mbl.is reported.

In a Facebook post, Vilhjálmur described the events of recent days as a “media circus” and said the agreements had achieved no more than the Broad Coalition of unions had already secured. The coalition comprises the Federation of General and Special Workers in Iceland, Efling trade union and Samiðn, an association of industrial workers.

The Broad Coalition signed an agreement with the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise on Tuesday evening. Vilhjálmur said it guaranteed that all agreed wage increases would be paid in full and shortened the contract period by one month. He said VR chair Halla Gunnarsdóttir had argued that this was not enough for her members.

Vilhjálmur said the coalition had been offered a two-month reduction in the contract period earlier in the week if 12-month inflation exceeded 4.3 per cent in October 2027. To the best of his knowledge, the same offer had been available to VR and Fagfélögin. The coalition rejected it, he said, because the inflation threshold was too high. Its agreement on Tuesday instead shortened the contracts by one month without an inflation condition.

He said Halla had signed a clause making a two-month reduction conditional on inflation being above specified thresholds in October next year: 4.3 per cent over 12 months and 3.8 per cent over six months. Vilhjálmur said he did not believe the clause would shorten her members’ contracts, based on the Icelandic Confederation of Labour’s inflation forecast.

Vilhjálmur said workers should understand that the agreements announced Thursday had not secured anything beyond what the Broad Coalition had already negotiated. He added that the outcome could have been reached on Tuesday, and said it was irresponsible to use union authority to heighten workers’ fear of hard-fought strikes.