The negotiation committee of Efling – Union has referred the Union’s wage dispute with the City of Reykjavík to the state mediator. The chairman of Efling sent the state mediator a written notice on the matter today, May 27. Efling believes that the talks with the City of Reykjavík have been unsuccessful, but they have been ongoing since mid-April. The collective agreement between the Efling union and the City of Reykjavík expired last March 31.
“The negotiation committee of Efling, which is made up of potent people with long working experience at the city, was unanimous in referring the talks to the state mediator. We have had numerous meetings with the negotiation committee of Reykjavík City, but negotiations have come to a stillstand. It is extremely strange to experience that even though we have made it clear, i.a. in our demand, that we intend to follow the salary policy that was formulated in the collective bargaining agreement in the general market, the city is not interested in discussing urgently needed reform issues for its indispensable staff. Modest salary increases do not seem to have aroused the desire to conclude contracts with us quickly and safely. We hope that by dismissing the dispute, talks will begin to yield results.”