Reykjavík City staff fear further layoffs, union chief says

Employees of Reykjavík City are deeply concerned about announced cost-cutting measures and the possibility of further layoffs, the head of the Sameyki trade union told mbl.is.

mbl.is reported, citing its sources, that dozens of city employees would be laid off on Tuesday. The measures were discussed at a closed extraordinary meeting of the city council that morning.

Kári Sigurðsson, Sameyki’s chair, said employees had already begun contacting the union and some had been called to meetings. Nearly half of the city’s employees belong to Sameyki. “I assume those people are being told they are losing their jobs,” he said.

“People are understandably worried. Everything is shaking at Reykjavík City, and has been for months,” Kári said. He called the layoffs a serious blow both to those losing their jobs and to colleagues who remain, saying they face uncertainty about their own positions, their duties and their workloads.

Kári said the city had once been considered one of Iceland’s model workplaces, but that repeated talk of further cost-cutting and jobs at risk had created widespread fear. He described the situation as “fear management and intimidation” and said employees were afraid to speak openly. “It is our union’s experience that the majority has succeeded in breaking the staff’s spirit somewhat,” he said, adding that the union had become their only public voice.