News - 07.03.2024

Icelandair CEO's comments corrected

The CEO of Icelandair criticized in an interview with the media yesterday, 6 March 2024, that the VR Negotiations Committee has decided to hold a vote on a call to strike among VR's members who work in Icelandair's passenger and baggage services at Keflavík Airport. The CEO said that only one meeting had been held where demands had been introduced, and nothing more.

The truth is that VR‘s demands in relation to the Icelandair special wage agreement were presented to the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise (SA), who are authorized to negotiate for Icelandair, on 29 November 2022. Almost six months later, on 8 May 2023, SA and Icelandair met with VR but no response to the demands was forthcoming during the meeting. The next meeting was held on 2 February 2024, where VR's demands were presented again. The meeting resulted in Icelandair addressing several issues concerning staff accommodation, which is positive, but SA gave little response to VR's main demands regarding the special wage agreement, and negotiations have not moved forward.

The VR Negotiations Committee reiterates that the staff in Icelandair's passenger and baggage services at Keflavík Airport receive minimum wages and do not enjoy the right to continuous working hours. During the winter, they are forced into a reduced work rate and made to come to work between 5 and 9 in the morning and then again between 1 and 5 p.m. The staff and VR on their behalf have tried for years to push for a correction of this but thei rightful demands of staff have not been met.

The special wage agreement with SA for work in Icelandair's passenger and baggage services at Keflavík Airport is one of the issues that are still unresolved in the current wage negotiations. VR has been prepared to attend meetings, in the past thirteen days SA has invited VR to one short meeting where SA did not provide any information about their position on the special wage agreement or other issues that are pending in the wage negotiations between SA and VR.

VR's appointed discussions task force is always ready for negotiations and will attend today's meeting with a solution-oriented approach regarding the collective wage agreement between VR and SA and the issues related to it.

VR‘s discussions task force