News - 29.02.2024

VR wage negotiations on hold

VR's Consultative Council has met and reviewed the situation in collective agreement negotiations but VR recently withdrew from the Union Alliance that are in wage negotiations with the Confederation of Employers (SA). VR and the Commercial Federation of Iceland (LÍV) have put together a negotiating committee comprised of Ragnar Þór Ingólfsson, Bjarni Þór Sigurðsson, Halla Gunnarsdóttir, Ólafur Reimar Gunnarsson, Selma Björk Grétarsdóttir and Þórir Hilmarsson on behalf of VR and Eiður Stefánsson on behalf of the Commercial Federation of Iceland.

VR and LÍV are not participating in the discussions taking place at the State Conciliation and Mediation office. At a meeting of VR's Consultative Council earlier this week, the decision to withdraw from the Union Alliance was discussed but the decision came about due to a dispute over the prerequisite clauses of the collective agreement. VR considers it urgent that long-term collective agreements have strong protections for employees and regular opportunities for review. There is broad agreement among the unions on the goals of the collective agreements to bring down inflation and interest rates, as well as on demands against the government for long overdue changes in the benefit systems. VR and LÍV have contributed to the formation of both since the beginning of this round of collective bargaining, in November last year.

LÍV is the largest federation of unions in the private labor market with more than 40 thousand members and VR is their largest. The negotiation committee will now take the demands of the member associations forward in negotiations with employers.