News - 28.01.2025

VR and AFL Meet with Fjarðabyggð Regarding Increased Preschool Fees

VR and AFL - the Union of General and Special Workers in East Iceland met with the municipal council and mayor of Fjarðabyggð to protest the planned increase in preschool fees in the municipality. Preschool fees are set to rise by 40% for an eight-hour daycare day and by 62% for 8.5 hours. This includes the introduction of 20 so-called registration days during the school year, which parents are required to pay for separately. Although the planned fee for each registration day has been reduced from ISK 5,000 to ISK 3,000, the overall increase still amounts to tens of percent.

At the meeting, Halla Gunnarsdóttir, Chair of VR, and Hjördís Þóra Sigurþórsdóttir, Chair of AFL, emphasized that during last year’s collective bargaining agreement negotiations, it was agreed that municipalities would refrain from raising fees. The significant increase in preschool fees directly contradicts these agreements. Furthermore, they stressed that it is unacceptable to shift the burden of staffing and organizational challenges in preschools onto working parents. The municipality is responsible for finding other solutions.

“We believe that with these preschool fee increases, Fjarðabyggð is effectively going against the collective bargaining agreements approved last year. From the meeting, it became clear that the goal is to reduce the number of days children spend in preschool, but the impact of this policy on both working people and gender equality has not been taken into account. We emphasized that while we fully understand the challenges preschools face across the country regarding staffing, wages, and facilities, we strongly oppose passing the burden of these issues onto working people with preschool-aged children,” said Halla Gunnarsdóttir, Chair of VR.

The increase in preschool fees in Fjarðabyggð is set to take effect in March. Both VR and AFL hope that the municipal council of Fjarðabyggð will reconsider the fee increase in light of the collective agreements and its impact on working people.

Caption: Attendees representing VR and AFL (from left): Halla Gunnarsdóttir, Chair of VR; Kristín María Björnsdóttir, Chair of VR’s East Iceland Division; Hjördís Þóra Sigurþórsdóttir, Chair of AFL; Birkir Snær Guðjónsson, Vice-Chair of AFL; and Ásdís Helga Jóhannsdóttir, Monitoring and Collective Bargaining Representative for AFL and the Acting Chair of ASÍ-UNG.