Annual Report 2019-2020

22 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 PROACTIVE IN THE MEDIA Efling has been prominent and often at the forefront of discussions regarding the issues of wage earn- ers. Thus, the division’s public relations staff has played a crucial role in shedding light on the wages of the union’s members, disseminating information throughout society and to the members. Along with an increased emphasis on cooperation within the divi- sion, the staff has emphasized the increased impor- tance of digital communications versus conventional printed material, synergy in the production of mate- rial for different media and the translation of presen- tational material for union members of foreign origin. Given the changes in society, the increased number of foreign members and the number of copies of Eflingarblaðið returned to sender, a decision was made to reduce the number of issues from 7 to 3. The change involves the publication of a vacation issue, an educational issue and one general publication. All the text in the issues will appear in Icelandic and English to widen the readership as much as possible. Along with the change, a decision was made to start a campaign of gathering email addresses. The campaign yielded more than 4000 new email addresses in addi- tion to the 7000 already in place. INCREASED INTERACTIVITY The increased emphasis on digital communication is reflected by the ever-increasing role of the Efling website in disseminating information and establish- ing interactive connections with the union’s members, for instance electronic voting and various kinds of applications. Both were crucial when the office had to close its doors because of the Covid-19 pandemic in the middle of March. Daily visits to the site number between 1000 and 5000 while daily hits on posts num- ber between 5000 and 20,000. In a similar vein, communication has increasingly taken place via the Facebook-site of Efling. There it is possible for union members to not only read informa- tion and news regarding the union’s operations but also to receive answers to queries and participate in discussions within chat groups. Event streaming via the website has been emphasized. This vibrant plat- form certainly has a long future ahead of it, judging by the fact that the number of the site’s followers grew by 2000 from April of 2019 to April of 2020 and now stands at 5300. Photography of Efling members at work in various fields was increased. Also, the software Fotoware was purchased so that new and old photos owned by Efling could be stored. UNION MEMBERS OUT FRONT The podcast Radíó Efling began broadcasting this year. As with the popular videos regarding the real- ity of Efling-members, the podcast has played an important role in making the voices of union mem- bers heard in society and in covering societal matters from their point of view. The Instagram-account of Efling was also founded at the beginning of the year. All these platforms are run by a newly created, joint editorial board within the division. Given that just over half of the members of Efling is of foreign origin, the emphasis has been placed on translating information material into foreign languages. Almost all the mate- rial of the website and Facebook-site of Efling is now published in Icelandic, English and Polish. Sometimes this has been taken even further, with translations into Spanish, Lithuanian and Russian. Also, flyers have been analyzed so that the information may be updated and to ensure that their content is available in three languages.. COURSES AND EDUCATIONAL GRANTS FOR INSTITUTIONS Efling members sought education and information avidly this year. Also, the representatives of institu- tions and companies were proactive in providing their staff with various avenues of education. Six institutions took 47 Efling members on excursions of education and exploration this year. E F L I N G R A D Í Ó