Orlofsblað Eflingar Sumarið 2021

6 ORLOFSBLAÐ EFLINGAR-STÉTTARFÉLAGS “I expect that no one in his right mind would have thought that the working class would give up the struggle for its interests just because its unions were bound- by unjust laws ...” 1930 – 1940 The thirties were marked by a deep economic depression and significant unemployment among working people. There was much poverty and the housing available was often ghastly. The struggle of the labor movement was mainly in defense and was mostly about preventing pay cuts. 1940 The occupation of Iceland altered completely the situation in the Icelandic labor market. Almost at once, significant unemployment was replaced with a labor shortage. The Brit- ish army did not see itself as bound by legal agreements in the Icelandic labor market with regards to the safety and conditions of workers, which caused a lot of unrest among laborers. The army therefore mostly hired non-union workers and their wages and conditions were often unsatisfactory. 1941 Strikes were called by Dagsbrún on January 1st and the action was aimed against both the Icelandic employers and the army. The occupation forces responded by threatening to stop hiring Icelandic workers and replacing them with soldiers. The workers saw the soldiers taking over their jobs as scabs and distributed a leaflet where they called on the soldiers to not take over their jobs, supporting them in their struggle instead. To make a long story short, this leaflet led to those responsible for the action; those who wrote and distributed the leaflet, were given prison sentences for trea- son and stripped of their civil rights. After a hard and difficult struggle, Dagsbrún reached an agreement with the employers and the occupation forces to improve the conditions of workers in several steps. This was a great step forward in the fight of workers for their interests. The arbitration legislation (the slave legislation) was enacted. The legislation forbade all wage raises, stripped the unions of their bargaining rights and outlawed strikes. Violations against the arbitration legislation could lead to enormous fines which could have emptied the funds of the unions or could even have led to the unions’ leadership being jailed. The labor movement was now operating with both hands tied behind its back and was unable to coordi- nate strikes for its members. This situation was later written about in Þjóðviljinn newspaper: “I expect that no one in his for the right to a summer vacation Guerilla warfare The past two years have been marked by great struggle by the members of Efling. Great victories have been won – but not without effort. On the contrary, these latest struggles have reminded us vividly of the fact that workers and low wage earners have always had to expend a lot of effort for each step towards progress in the labor market – and that this is still the case. How would society be today if workers and low wage earn- ers hadn’t stood up time and time again to take matters into their own hands? The fight has yielded rights for all wage earners in Iceland which are now seen as unquestion- able. For instance, the legal right to a summer vacation, which most people would be unable to imagine not having. However, this right was not presented to us on a silver-plat- ter, any more than any of the other rights. Now that a new and elegant neighborhood of summer houses are being made available for the members of Efling in Stóra Fljót by Biskupstungur, we should examine the history of the right to a vacation. The idea for this brand- new neighborhood of summerhouses arose in the year 1942, the year when Dagsbrún, later Efling, negotiated for the right to 12 days of vacation for its members after one of the most heated fights in the history of the Icelandic labor market. A fight most often referred to as the guerilla warfare.