In September the Brim company in Akureyri in northern Iceland set up a subsidiary to operate one of its trawlers, the Sólbakur, and drew up an “agreement” that reduces the size of the crew and increases the workload by 20 percent for those still on the job. It also revoked a clause in the previous contract under which each trawler stops for a minimum of 30 hours, and sets wages on a monthly basis instead of for each fishing tour. Workers said they were told they could not join a union.

Unlike Brim, one of the largest companies in the fishing industry here, the new company is not a member of either of the two employer organizations—the Confederation of Icelandic Employers (SA) and the Federation of Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners (LIU).

Everyone on the Sólbakur crew signed the deal. Brim had tried earlier, unsuccessfully, to sign a similar contract with seamen on another trawler, Gudmundur í Nesi.

Gudmundur Kristjánsson, manager of Brim, has defended the deal as a matter of “freedom of association,” as have other fishing capitalists.

When the Sólbakur docked in Akureyri October 5, eight officials of the seamen’s unions tried to stop its unloading by parking their cars on the docks. After a daylong stalemate, the local police arrested the unionists and brought them in for questioning next day. The trawler was unloaded, but the workers doing the job decided, at the urging of the board of their union, that this would be the last time they unloaded the ship under these conditions.

This comes at a time when the unions are negotiating a new contract with the LIU—they haven’t signed a new accord in more than a decade. The workers are now preparing a strike vote. They have been on strike a few times, but the government has always used antilabor legislation to order them back to work.

The employers’ main demand has been to reduce size of the crews on trawlers. The central union demand is for the entire catch to be brought to market where it can be sold at a higher price. In many cases, the same company owns both the trawler and the processing factory, thus setting a lower price. The seamen’s income is largely tied to the total value of the catch.

Saevar Gunnarsson, chairperson of the Icelandic Seamen Federation, said a contract could be signed without the participation of the union only if the agreement meets the minimum terms of the existing contract. On that basis, he said, the Sólbakur deal is illegal. “The seamen’s unions will use all the means they have and the Seamen Federation will seek aid from other trade unions to stop this,” he said in an interview on state radio.

Protests have poured in from most trade unions in the country. Crews on more than 40 other trawlers and fishing boats have sent declarations supporting the actions taken by the seamen’s organizations and protesting the Sólbakur deal. Other employers, especially those in the fishing industry, view the deal as a trial balloon in their effort to drive down wages and conditions. While denying any responsibility for Brim’s actions, they have endorsed the contract wholeheartedly.

Meanwhile, a small fight developed on Sléttbakur, another Brim trawler. The crew had been called on board the morning after the unloading of Sólbakur. According to the general contract, the crew doesn’t have to work while the trawler is in harbor and the boat has to leave within an hour after the crew is on board. When the owners violated these provisions, the crew contacted their union and the owner was instructed to follow the contract. This meant the company had to release the workers and call them back, which delayed departure for four hours.

At many ports across the country, unions voted not to unload Sólbakur. When the ship came to harbor October 13 in Akureyri, the company obtained an injunction to bar the workers from stopping the unloading of the trawler. The seamen’s organizations have decided to bring the matter to the labor regulation court.

In a similar attack on labor, Iceland Express, a low-fare airline, announced plans to lay off all 40 of its flight attendants effective January 1. In an interview with Fréttabladid Ólafur Hauksson, head of public relations for the airline, said “We need to add to the work hours of the flight attendants and we are not confident that we can reach an acceptable solution through traditional methods here in this country, that is, through negotiations.”

In order to continue working for Iceland Express the flight attendants must resign from their trade unions. Then they might be rehired through Astraeus, a contracting-out company. In an interview with Fréttabladid Ásdís Eva Hannesdóttir, chairperson for the Icelandic Cabin Crew Association, said this is a new situation for the labor movement in Iceland. “This has not happened before, that an Icelandic company lays off its Icelandic employees to rehire them through a foreign contracting-out company and on foreign terms,” she said.

The fishing industry bosses claim that their profit rates are down, and that must cut labor costs. This means going after the unions. The owners of Iceland Express face fierce competition on European routes and use this to justify their attacks on the unions. The problem the employers face, however, is that neither fishing industry workers nor flight attendants are taking these attacks sitting down and are backed by many other workers who see it as their cause as well.

At the same time, a nationwide strike by more than 4,000 teachers has entered its fifth week. The September 20 walkout has shut down all public schools for students between the ages of 6 and 16, affecting 45,000 students (see issue no. 37 of the Militant). The teachers remain united in spite of an ongoing media campaign against them. More than 1,000 teachers packed a theater for a rally on October 11 and are planning a march for October 20.  
 
 
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