Proposal for a sympathy strike in schools that are members of Samtök sjálfstæðra skóla (Federation of Independent Schools in Iceland)In a board meeting held on 20.02.2020 in the Union’s premises in Guðrúnartún 1, the Board of Efling agrees to call a vote, pursuant to Article 15 of Act No. 80/1938 on Trade Unions and Industrial Disputes, on calling a sympathy strike of Efling members who work in schools that are members of Samtök sjálfstæðra skóla, in support of Efling members’ demands to the City of Reykjavík in the current labour dispute. The authorisation to declare a sympathy strike is founded in a divergent meaning of clause 3 of Article 17 of Act No. 80/1938 on Trade Unions and Industrial Disputes, and has been confirmed in judgements by the Labour Court, cf., inter alia, cases No. 1/1947; 2/1945; and 6/1975.Negotiations on the demands put forward by Efling in relation to the renewal of the Union’s collective agreement with the City of Reykjavík, which expired on 31 March 2019, on behalf of Efling’s members, have proved unfruitful despite the State Conciliation and Mediation Officer’s efforts. On 10 January, this year, Efling’s negotiating committee to the City of Reykjavík agreed to propose a work stoppage for members of Efling working for the City of Reykjavík, under the collective agreement between the City of Reykjavík and Efling. On 17 February, a strike was commenced for an indefinite period, and it is this strike which the sympathy strike now being called is intended to support.The sympathy work stoppage will be realised in the following manner: Efling members who work in schools that are members of Samtök sjálfstæðra skóla will discontinue their work for an indefinite period starting from noon (12:00) on Monday, 9 March.
