The Union Alliance has put forward the demand that how employees earn holiday entitlements be reviewed. That demand was submitted in the wage negotiations with The Confederation of Employers (SA), and it will be emphasized when negotiations start again. The demand is that the full, thirty-day vacation right will be earned by workers earlier than it is now, not after ten years but after seven years. Given the moderate wage increases The Union Alliance has agreed to, there must be room for this to happen.
This is among the subjects addressed in a video by Efling that has been sent to members. In it, Viðar Þorsteinsson, head of education and membership, reviews some of the issues that Efling has fought for in negotiations with SA. Viðar talks about issues other than the big focal points, that is salary and the prerequisite clauses of collective agreements, which have been discussed in detail on this page before. Key points are emphasized on a series of slides that can be found at the bottom of this article.
Among the subjects Viðar mentions is that Efling’s negotiators have put a lot of effort into achieving improvements to the rights of bus drivers and equipment operators, especially in terms of accommodation while traveling. A reasonable minimum payment must be guaranteed when people gather food on trips and adjustments must be made to the recording of rest time and the calculations related to it. “We are strict with these demands towards SA,” Viðar says.
The issue of cleaners has also been brought to the fore, but the conditions of that group, which have declined in recent years, must be corrected.
Dismissal protection must be guaranteed
Vīdar explains that a lot of effort has been put into correcting defects in the provisions of collective agreements in terms of dismissal protection in the general labor market. The situation today is that employers can fire people without any valid reasons. This is an unacceptable situation in a healthy labor market. In the public labor market, there is a requirement that legitimate reasons for dismissal must be demonstrated.
Viðar says that certain implementations have been proposed as to how this could be done. In addition, a proposal has been submitted that the law on the protection of whistleblowers be implemented in such a way that if an employee comes to an employer in good faith and makes a suggestion about something objectionable in the workplace, he will gain protection against being dismissed for unreasonable reasons.
The rights of confidants will be strengthened
“We have also made it a priority to strengthen the rights of confidants,” says Viðar, but the confidant’s system is the real backbone of Efling’s work. Among the demands that have been put forward are that it will be allowed to increase the number of confidants in larger workplaces and that they will be given a minimum amount of time to perform their duties during working hours. “You can’t leave work if you’re working on an assembly line or if you’re driving in the countryside in a car or if you’re on duty somewhere as a security guard, that goes without saying.”
The same can be said about the right of confidants to attend courses during working hours and guarantees that this will not affect their income. Furthermore, Efling has emphasized that Confidants have the right to work in negotiation committees, just as happens in the public labor market.
Efling members are encouraged to continue to monitor the company’s website, where every effort will be made to inform about the status of the collective agreement negotiations.