All three ASÍ vice-presidents receive nearly 240,000 krónur a month

All three vice-presidents of the Icelandic Confederation of Labour receive nearly 240,000 krónur a month, according to a written response from the organisation’s managing director to an inquiry by mbl.is.

The payments amount to about 2.8 million krónur per person annually. The three vice-presidents receive the same amount.

They usually meet twice a month, or as needed, the response says. That was the arrangement throughout last year and has continued so far this year.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Halla Gunnarsdóttir, chair of VR and the confederation’s third vice-president, said the role mainly involves attending two Teams meetings a month and reviewing the central board’s agenda before it is circulated. The meetings often last about 15 minutes, she said.

A proposal to reduce the number of vice-presidents from three to one has prompted disagreement. Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir, chair of Efling and the confederation’s second vice-president, has strongly criticised the proposal, saying its adoption would leave VR controlling both the president and vice-president positions.

Gunnarsdóttir rejected that criticism in an interview with mbl.is on Wednesday, saying the proposal was primarily intended to simplify the confederation’s governance. Hjördís Þóra Sigurþórsdóttir, the first vice-president, said one vice-president would generally be preferable, although having more could be sensible under current circumstances. She said she had opposed increasing the number in the past.