More strike misery on the cards
Björn Snæbjörnsson and Drífa Snædal, Chair and Director of SGS. Photo: Skapti
Over 10,000 members of the Icelandic Professional Trade Association (‘Starfsgreinasamband Íslands’ – SGS) will be coming out of strike from Thursday of next week.
An overwhelming majority – 94.6% – of SGS members approved industrial action in a week-long ballot which closed yesterday. Turnout was 50.4%. As with the current strike of members of the Iceland Association of Academics (BHM), the dispute centres on collective wage agreements for SGS members.
Strike action will begin at midday on 30 April, initially for twelve hours. This will be followed by four 24-hour strikes on 6, 7, 19 and 20 May. If the dispute remains unresolved by this stage, the SGS members will begin a long-term indefinite strike beginning 26 May.
The SGS strikes will have a profound impact on workplaces throughout Iceland. 42% of SGS members eligible to vote in the ballot work in food (e.g. fish processing, meat processing, abattoirs) and 32% in the service industry (e.g. tourism, cleaning). Other members are involved in construction, industry and transport.
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