he VR Youth Council is a discussion and consultation forum for young people in the union. The VR Youth Council shall advise the VR Board on issues related to young people aged 16–35.
The role of the Youth Council is to:
- Look after the interests of VR’s younger members.
- Provide younger members of VR with a platform and ways to express their opinions and suggestions.
- Encourage young people to participate in the labour struggle, influence their society and fight for an increased quality of life.
About half of VR’s members are aged 16–35, or around 20,000 members. With the establishment of the Youth Council, the union is taking a decisive step to ensure that the voices of young members are heard in all discussions concerning the union.
It is proposed that the members of the Youth Council will be paid for attending meetings and automatically get a seat on the VR Council of Representatives and a seat on ASÍ and LÍV Union Assemblies.
VR encourages all those who are interested in a seat on the Council to stand for election in the spring. Elections for the Youth Council will be announced separately.
The following persons were nominated by the Board of VR until March 2024, when the Council will be appointed and elected anew according to Article 2 of the Rules of Procedure for the Youth Council.
- Alina Vilhjálmsdóttir
- Árni Konráð Árnason
- Birgitta Ragnarsdóttir
- Halldóra Líf Edvinsdóttir
- Mateusz Gabríel K. Róbertsson
- Þorvarður Bergmann Kjartansson
The Youth Council’s Rules of Procedure
The Rules of Procedure, as amended, are published below in their entirety.
The Rules of Procedure and the role of the VR Youth Council.
Article 1
The VR Youth Council is a discussion and consultation forum for young people in the union. The VR Youth Council shall advise the VR Board on issues related to young people aged 16–35.
The objective of the Council is to ensure that the interests of young people are always on the union’s agenda. The role of the Youth Council is to:
Look after the interests of VR’s younger members.
Provide younger members of VR with a platform and ways to express their opinions and suggestions.
Encourage young people to participate in the labour struggle, influence their society and fight for an increased quality of life.
Article 2
The VR Youth Council shall be composed of 6 representatives of younger members, aged 18–35, who will allocate tasks among themselves. There must be equal gender division in the Council, and it must reflect the age composition of younger members as much as possible. The VR Youth Council is appointed every other year, where 3 are nominated by the VR Board at the first Board meeting after VR’s Annual General Meeting, and after that, 3 are elected by members, aged 35 and under, for two years at a time. The Council has a VR employee at its disposal.
Article 3
The VR Youth Council shall meet as often as necessary. The Council receives committee fees for scheduled meetings, and an average of 6–8 meetings are held per year. In addition, representatives of the Youth Council are paid any lost wages they may incur due to their work for VR. The Council brings ideas to the union’s Board for further decisions and implementation.
Article 4
The VR Youth Council must be considered when selecting the union’s representatives at the Union Assemblies of ASÍ and LÍV, as well as other meetings of workers’ interest organisations.
Article 5
Elected representatives in the VR Youth Council automatically have a seat in the VR Council of Representatives.
Interim provision
VR’s 6-member Youth Council is for the first time appointed by VR’s Board for up to one year until VR’s Annual General Meeting in 2024, after which it is appointed according to Article 2.