VR says contract length is key to final effort in talks

VR is preparing to terminate its collective agreements with the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise (SA), while its final effort to find a solution centres on the duration of an agreement, union chair Halla Gunnarsdóttir told mbl.is.

The negotiating committee for VR and LÍV received full authority earlier this week to terminate the agreements. VR’s board met on Wednesday evening and unanimously concluded that termination was the only option. Gunnarsdóttir said the Fagfélögin were also moving towards a similar position and had coordinated their labour negotiations with the VR and LÍV committee.

Gunnarsdóttir said the government had offered to help facilitate a resolution, and that VR had been willing to discuss the length of an agreement as part of a final attempt to reach a solution.

She said VR had made proposals and developed new ideas in response to SA since late August or early September, but had received no solutions or attempts at solutions in return. She said the gap between the sides was small and warned that allowing negotiations to collapse could disrupt both the private and public labour markets.

Gunnarsdóttir said she spoke with Bjarni Benediktsson between 6pm and 7pm on Wednesday, but that little came of the conversation beyond a cordial exchange. She expects VR representatives to meet on Thursday morning and then go to SA’s offices after noon to settle the matter. She added that SA representatives were due to travel to Croatia for an annual party the next morning, leaving little prospect of developments then.