Efling weighs leaving Iceland’s labour confederation

Efling is to spend the next two years examining whether it should leave the Icelandic Confederation of Labour, its chair Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir told mbl.is. She said many members have called for the union to leave for years.

Sólveig Anna lost to Halla Gunnarsdóttir in the election for first vice-president at the confederation’s 47th congress on Friday. Halla received 62 per cent of the vote. Sólveig Anna said the result reflected disagreement within the labour movement over the confederation’s direction and priorities.

She said Efling’s membership in the confederation should be reviewed carefully and that a decision should not be made in response to the result of a single vote. The review will consider what membership means for Efling and what the consequences of leaving would be.

Sólveig Anna also criticised how delegates are allocated to the congress, arguing that unions representing higher-paid workers have more influence than those representing manual and low-paid workers. She pointed to a proposal by Vilhjálmur Birgisson to examine how the allocation is calculated.

She said retail workers brought a particularly large delegation to this year’s congress and that this affected the election result.

Sólveig Anna had previously said she did not expect to win. She said she ran because workers often have to fight even when the rules are against them, and because the contest would give her and her allies a clearer picture of the balance of opinion within the confederation.

She said no Efling delegates would seek a seat on the confederation’s central committee.