Halla rejects repeated claims of power hunger within ASÍ

Halla Gunnarsdóttir, chair of the VR union and newly elected first vice-president of the Icelandic Confederation of Labour (ASÍ), has dismissed repeated claims by Efling chair Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir that she wants to consolidate power within ASÍ, mbl.is reports.

Halla called the accusations baseless and noted that the candidate she supported was elected ASÍ president.

“Power within ASÍ belongs in the confederation’s central board, where all voices come together. The vice-president’s main role is to serve as president when the president is unavailable,” Halla said. “So I reject these repeated accusations of hunger for power.”

She said the result of the vice-presidential election showed that delegates trusted her to act as president in the president’s absence. In her view, the congress had not supported proposals to give the vice-president a broader role.

Asked about future cooperation with Efling after the election campaign and congress, Halla said the union had independently decided not to take part in ASÍ’s central board, despite being entitled to at least two representatives. She said Efling would therefore not help implement the strategy on the future, work and labour movement agreed at the congress. Halla said she would work to advance it with the central board.

How unions will work together in the next collective bargaining round remains to be seen, she said.

Halla said delegates had shown broad agreement on the main issues at the congress, although disagreements had been prominent in the run-up. She noted that union leaders had spoken publicly over the previous two weeks, including about the breakdown of assumptions underpinning collective agreements.

She said the chairs of Efling and the Federation of General and Special Workers in Iceland had expressed strong views about the work of leaders from VR, the Confederation of Icelandic Employers and professional associations. Halla said she had taken those comments seriously.

She added that unions decide individually who they work with on collective bargaining.