ICFTU to agree with trade policy review of Iceland
08 Jun '06
2 min read
In a report published by the ICFTU to coincide with the trade policy review of Iceland at the WTO this week, the Icelandic government is criticised for intervening in the country's industrial relations.
Again and again the Icelandic government has interrupted collective bargaining processes and denied certain groups of workers the right to strike.
Though law and practice in Iceland generally complies with internationally recognised labour standards, including trade union rights, one category of workers - workers on fishing vessels - have found it difficult to exercise their rights to both collective bargaining and to strike.
Thus, disputes between certain fishers' trade unions and the federation of the fishing vessel owners concerning the determination of the fishers' wages and terms of employment have on numerous occasions led to government interventions, with the effect of fixing fishers' wages and terms of employment through the imposition of arbitration processes.
"The Icelandic Government's interference in industrial relations in the fishing industry has been a stain on an otherwise great democratic and industrial tradition," said ICFTU General Secretary, Guy Ryder. ""They should change this legislation right away so that there can be no doubt that all Iceland's workers have these fundamental rights", Ryder emphasised.
The concerns of the ICFTU are shared by the International Labour Organisation, the UN body assigned to deal with issues related to the world of work. Thus, it has frequently criticised Iceland for imposing solutions which should be the result of free and voluntary collective bargaining and for intervening in industrial disputes, in effect disrupting fully legal strikes by fishers.
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