Annual Report 2019-2020

9 E F L I N G A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 9 – 2 0 2 0 WAGE NEGOTIATIONS AND OTHER STRUGGLES AND OTHER MATTERS OF RIGHTS Ragnar Ólason has been a key figure in the organiza- tion of the wage negotiations of Efling with parties in the public sector, that is the state, the City of Reykjavík and the Icelandic Association of Local Authorities ( Samband íslenskra sveitarfélaga – SÍS ). Ragnar has also organized negotiations with private parties owned or run by the public sector, such as schools within Samtök sjálfstæðra skóla (the Association of Independent Schools), the NPA-center, Samtök fyrirtækja í velferðarþjónustu (the Association of Companies in Welfare Services) and more. On April 1 st of 2020 Ragnar was appointed to the newly created position of assistant managing director, which reflects the great responsibility which Ragnar has borne for a long time for Efling. Wage negotiations are covered in more detail elsewhere in the annual report. The office of the chairman has overseen some tasks which are related to the interests of the union’s mem- bers but are not directly under the auspices of the wage affairs division or wage negotiations. One example of this is the lawsuit against the temporary work agency Menn í vinnu and the service user Eldum rétt . The law firm Réttur has litigated the case at the behest of union members whose rights were violated with regards to wage deductions and ill treatment by these companies. All the other service users besides Eldum rétt agreed to compensate the employees. The case is still in the courts and is part of the struggle of Efling against the working methods of temporary work agencies. In May of 2019, Efling met with the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise ( Samtök atvinnulífsins - SA ) because of the practice of certain companies of curtail- ing additional payments to staff under the pretext of having been forced to do so because of the first wage raise of the Quality of Life Agreement. Efling issued a formal statement to condemn the stance of SA and called on union members to share their stories about such methods. Subsequently, meetings were held with the representatives of SA and the follow-up of Efling resulted in SA calling on their member companies to let their employees enjoy the negotiated raises fully without curtailing any of their other additional pay- ments. Cases which came up in certain workplaces were monitored, for instance the shortening of the work week at several larger companies and the rights of union representatives. In many cases SA initiated such interactions. Efling has sat on the advisory committee of the min- istry of social affairs for several matters having to do with NPA services (user directed personal assistance for disabled people) as most of those who provide such services are members of Efling. A collective agreement regarding NPA is based on an exemption from laws regulating resting hours and night-shifts. However, that exemption is being examined. Efling has collabo- rated closely with NPA-staff to discuss this work and prepare for the renewal of the collective agreement. Benjamín Julian, an employee in the chairman’s office, has overseen that work along with other employees. On September 26 th of 2019, Efling was visited by representatives from the Nordic Transport Workers’ Federation NTF. Discussions took place during the meeting with the representatives regarding the com- mon interests of workers in transport and travel, espe- cially coach drivers. WORKPLACE INSPECTIONS The new vice-chairman, Agnieszka Ewa Ziólkowska, has assumed oversight over the workplace inspections made on behalf of Efling, which are also to a certain extent directed through ASÍ. A new Efling employee, Phoenix Jessica Ramos, was hired in early 2020 to inspect workplaces. Ingólfur B. Jónsson, who works in the wage affairs division, has regularly inspected work- places in the construction industry in cooperation with the unions of craftsmen. THE WORK OF THE DELEGATE COUNCIL The chairman is responsible for preparing and holding the major union meetings which are held in accordance with the union’s laws, the largest of which are the regu- lar meetings of the delegatecouncil. The office of the chairman has usually worked closely with the organ- izing- and development department on preparations for the meetings. The task of holding union meetings comes with creating a schedule for the meetings of the board and the delagate council, the taking of minutes and the preservation of minutes and participation in the preparations for the annual general meeting. Ingibjörg Þóra Haraldsdóttir, who also holds the title of archives and project manager, has seen to these tasks. During the meetings of the delegate council in the operating year tasks mandated by the union’s laws were performed, such as the appointment of boards and committees and the selection of representatives for the conference of the Federation of General and Special workers in Iceland (SGS). During a delegate council meeting in May, the lawyers Karl Ó. Karlsson