Regarding the upcoming strike in Reykjavík city, Efling would like to make the following clear:Strikes in schools and recreational facilities:Departments (“deild”) close if the head of the department is an Efling member.Non-Efling staff from a closed department can not be transferred to other departments.Substitutions can only be done for their original purpose (preparations, illness) but not to do the work of people who are on strike.Children with special needs in departments that remain open can come to the kindergarten, even if an Efling worker usually attends to them.This means:
- If the child is in a department where the head of the department is an Efling worker, the child remains at home.
- If the child is in a department where the head of the department is in another union, the child can come to the kindergarten. The training that an Efling worker would have performed with the child does not take place during the strike.
Strikes in care facilities:Efling has accepted requests for exemption from the strike to allow for necessary social work and safety. Cleaning and tidying up has not been included and other workers are not allowed to do those tasks in the Efling workers’ place.Strike-breaking
- Only the senior management of establishments are allowed to do the work of those on strike.
- Senior management includes kindergarten manager and directors of institutions.
- An “establishment” means, for instance, a kindergarten operating in two locations.
- General staff who are not on strike can perform their regular tasks, but not different or additional work.
- Examples of strike-breaking by general workers include:
- Working a longer day than normal
- Performing tasks they normally wouldn’t (doing the work of those on strike)
- Not taking their regular coffee or food breaks
- A manager who directs their staff to do any of the above is breaking the strike.
- Examples of strike-breaking by general workers include:
Efling demands that its right to fight for wages and conditions be respected by all and draws attention to the call by other unions on their members not to do the work of striking Efling members. Efling urges anyone who thinks the strike is being broken to notify the union via verkfallsbrot@efling.is or by calling 5107500.The union will have an active strike patrol.The right to strike is fundamental to working people and should be respected as such. The aim of strikes is to force negotiations forward by means of withdrawal from work, in part or full. The law proscribes its prevention by the employer. A manager who tells his staff to expand their field of work by taking on other duties during the strike is thereby breaking the strike.