Efling Union warns workers in the restaurant sector against the fake union “Virðing”.
“Virðing” is not a real union. Instead, it is a scam run by employers for the sole purpose of cutting wages and benefits of workers.
Efling has confirmed information about cases where their employer has told staff that they are supposed to work under the collective agreement of Virðing with the employers’ alliance SVEIT. The purpose of this is to get staff to accept lower salaries and worse terms.
Efling asks all workers in the restaurant sector who their employer has approached to participate in this fraud to contact the union without delay using the form here: https://efling.is/en/scammed-by-sveit/
Employers pretended to be workers when they did not get what they wanted from Efling
In recent years, SVEIT has fought for the creation of a collective agreement that would lower workers’ wages in comparison with the current legally protected terms of the Efling collective agreement with Samtök atvinnulífsins (the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise).
SVEIT tried at first to convince Efling to enter into bargaining with them on those grounds, which was rejected by Efling. SVEIT then took Efling to labor court, which ruled that Efling had no obligation to bargain with SVEIT and furthermore confirmed that the articles of the Efling contract with SA is the legal minimum terms in the sector.
There are three individuals on the board of Virðing, of which two are directly involved in the running of restaurants as owners or board members. It is not surprising that those restaurants happen to be members of SVEIT.
Countless cutbacks
The collective agreement of Virðing with SVEIT entails significant cutbacks of wages and benefits of staff, such as:
- Daytime hours are lengthened by 3 hours, or from 5 pm to 8 pm, which means that during those hours staff will not get a shift bonus. The same applies to Saturdays.
- Shift bonus is lowered from 33% to 31%.
- A general restaurant worker with 1 year of work experience in the sector working on a 2-2-3 shift system will, if working under the terms of Virðing and SVEIT, have their salary cut by 52.176 kr. which is the equivalent of 10%.
- Vacation pay rights are diminished to the legal minimum of 24 days, and vacation benefits beyond those that Efling has negotiated with SA are removed.
- Rights to sickness payments are decreased.
These are only a few examples of the various cutbacks contained in the contract.
Efling members stand united, and the union is ready to defend everyone caught in the scam of SVEIT
Union representatives from Efling workplaces across the labor market of the capital region went on visits yesterday (Tuesday) to restaurants in the capital region. One purpose of the visits was to warn members against being scammed by SVEIT and Virðing.
Efling encourages members who have been asked to work under the fake agreement of Virðing to get in touch with the union without delay. It is best to use a form on the union’s website for this: https://efling.is/en/scammed-by-sveit/
Efling will assist all workers who have been victims of this scam, regardless of whether they have signed a hiring contract referring to the fake agreement of Virðing and SVEIT. Workers do not have to accept being scammed in this way, whatever their employer may tell them.
Efling will take all necessary action to prevent SVEIT and Virðing from scamming and cheating restaurant workers.
