What are the effects of wage theft on the lives of wage-earners and why in the world doesn’t everyone come together to expunge this black mark from the Icelandic labor market?In a new podcast from Radíó Efling, stolen pay for the same amount of work, we will hear about the experience of a young member of Efling, Ehsan Ísaksson, of the wage theft and violations of rights which he has suffered in the labor market. Ehsan’s story is a remarkable one. He is of Afghan descent but was born and raised in Iran. After having been on the run for many years as a child he came to this country by himself and received international protection. He graduated from secondary school two years ago and has since then gone through a string of experiences of employers trying to violate his rights and steal his wages.In the second part of the episode, there is an interview with Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir, chairman of Efling, which is currently fighting to enact a legal provision for punishment by fine to counter the perpetration of wage theft, which spans enormous amounts each year. The Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise (Samtök atvinnulífsins) has opposed this, however, and despite promises made with regards to the Quality of Life agreement, the government has not stood up to those whose interests are not best served by the elimination of wage theft.Listen to podcast
