Former union leader warns strike rights are being hollowed out

Jákup Danielsen, a former chair of the Faroese union Starvsfelagið, says the system of industrial action and the right to strike will be undermined if they are not used, KVF reports.

Large parts of both the public and private sectors are without agreements after mediation efforts failed. But neither side appears willing to take further action by calling a strike or lockout, a situation that concerns Danielsen.

He chaired Starvsfelagið, then known as Starvsmannafelagið, from 1992 to 1997 and served on its board for several years before that. Danielsen questions why the Faroese Shipmasters and Navigators Association and the Engineers’ Association rejected a mediation proposal for a new agreement covering fishing vessels, then went home to consider it.

Annfinnur Garðalíð, chair of the Shipmasters and Navigators Association, said the practice of calling a strike immediately after mediation fails belongs to the past. He does not believe a strike must be the next step every time mediation is unsuccessful.