Tag Archives: Icelandic Fishermen’s Association
Icelandic Fishermen’s Strike to Resume Tonight
Members of the Icelandic Fishermen’s Association have voted down a wage contract, signed by their representatives and Fisheries Iceland in mid-November, RÚV reports. No fewer than 562, or 76 percent of fishermen, voted against the contract, while 177, or 24 percent, approved it. That means a strike, postponed at the signing of the contract, resumes at 8 pm tonight. The strike is expected to last past Christmas. This is the second time this year that fishermen reject a wage contract signed by their representatives. Three smaller fishermen’s associations also rejected their contracts, according to Vísir. The CEO of Fisheries Iceland, Heiðrún Lind Marteinsdóttir, expressed her disappointment at the news of the vote. She told RÚV that the state negotiator would assess when a meeting of the negotiating parties should be held. “We have said that fishermen’s demands have been met to a large extent, and there is, in fact, no dispute about that.” She finds it unlikely that the situation will change before Christmas. Link 13:36
Icelandic Fishermen’s Association and Fisheries Iceland Sign Contract
A deal was struck before midnight, last night, between the Icelandic Fishermen’s Association and Fisheries Iceland, RÚV reports. The contract was signed at 1 am. The fishermen’s strike, which began Thursday night, has been postponed until 8 pm Tuesday. Two fishermen’s associations, with a total of 900 members did not sign the contract, one of them from Grindavík. Negotiations will continue this week with those two. The last dispute to be solved had to do with manning of pelagic fishing vessels and wet fish trawlers. It was agreed that a year-long study be done on the safety and work hours of fishermen on those vessels. The contract is for two years. It will be presented to fishermen today and tomorrow. After that, online voting will take place. Link 07:48
