The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.61/No.24           June 23, 1997 
 
 
Iceland: Fish Workers Strike For Wage Increase  
This column is devoted to reporting the resistance by working people to the employers' assault on their living standards, working conditions, and unions.

We invite you to contribute short items to this column as a way for other fighting workers around the world to read about and learn from these important struggles. Jot down a few lines about what is happening in your union, at your workplace, or other workplaces in your area, including interesting political discussions.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland - Members of trade unions in the regional federation Althydusamband Vestfjarda (ASV), of the northwestern peninsula in Iceland, have been on strike for five weeks. Two large unions of unskilled workers in the area of Reykjavik, Dagsbrún (Dawn) and Hlíf have declared solidarity for the labor action. Their members are not loading or unloading ships, which ASV union members normally work on.

The strike is a part of general negotiations in the labor market in process since the fall of 1996 that ended with signing of contracts between the Organization of Employers (VSÍ) and majority of federations and unions in the country. The talks began, following a one-day strike of unskilled workers in Reykjavík, at the end of March. The contract included a pay raise of about 13 percent over three years.

The unions in the ASV are demanding a wage increase and are debating the bonus system in the fishing industry. The bonus is a variable part of workers' salaries, often around one-third of the fixed wage. Most workers in ASV are employed in the fishing industry and some are dockworkers.

Teams of strikers jumped in cars on May 17 to picket at harbors around on the northwestern and western coast. Their first stop was the northern town of Hvammstangi where they encountered members of the local union unloading Framnes, a ship registered in Vestfirdir. After some discussions with them, they reached an agreement and the strikers continued towards the area around the capital city of Reykjavik.

Supporters of the Militant met the strikers just as they had arrived in Hafnarfjordur, an adjacent town to Reykjavik. From their immediate center in a local pizzeria, they were on the look out for a trawler recently in the harbor and trying to organize a meeting with local union leaders and dockworkers.

"We wanted to incorporate the bonus into the fixed wage and estimated it at 230 kronur (US$3.20) an hour, said striker Adalheidur Steinsdóttir. "Since they did not even want to discuss it, we canceled the idea. We are demanding a minimum of 218 kronur bonus an hour, a guarantee for 85,000 kronur (US$1200) a month at the signing of the contract, and 105,000 kronur at the end of the term."

"Today, the hourly bonus where I work is around 240 kronur an hour, added Sirrí Bragadóttir. But there are small places where productivity is very low, for example for bacalau and dried fish, the bonus goes down to 130 kronur an hour. This is meant to help them out."

There was no unloading of the ship in Hafnarfjordur. The employers built a wall of containers at the site to evade blockade, but the dockworkers refused to work on the ship under these conditions. It left and was unloaded a couple of days later in a southern harbor of Vestmanna-Islands. A similar process followed in Reykjavik.

The Organization of Employers, VSÍ, have claimed that sympathy action of Dawn and Hlíf are illegal since both unions have recently signed a contract and are thereby obliged to keep peace on their part. VSÍ have also said they will sue the unions involved in hindering the unloading take place and seek to recover damages.

Meanwhile, teachers have not signed an agreement with their employer, the state and municipalities. According to Elna Katrin Jónsdóttir, chairperson of the teachers union, KSÍ, the union must prepare for a fight after the summer.

Starbucks workers fight for contract in Canada
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A strike is looming at Starbucks, British Columbia's (BC) largest coffee retailer, where workers at eight retail outlets and a distribution center were recently organized by the Canadian Auto Workers.

Company officials announced a decision to close the distribution center as a "business move" and claimed they had planned to do so long before workers became unionized.

Workers at the distribution center, which supplies baked goods to some eighty Star- bucks outlets in BC, struck May 16 after six months of contract negotiations ground to a halt. The union official- dom has yet to call for a strike at the eight unionized cafes, however, but has initiated what they call an "un- strike." Cafe workers sport big, blue buttons reading "CAW: Unstrike," and come to work out of uniform.

"If one of our members is sent home for not being in uniform, everybody walks, because it will be an illegal lockout," CAW national representative Roger Crowther told the Vancouver Sun, BC's largest circulation daily. The union's key demands, outlined in a leaflet distributed in the cafes, include an immediate wage increase to $10 an hour, sick leave for "baristas" (cafe workers), seniority rights, and keeping the distribution center open.

Rajendra Reddy, a 35-year-old truck driver for the center, explained to the Militant that before workers joined the CAW, company representatives floated plans to expand operations at the center to 24 hours. "We joined the union, and then they found out we were in the union, so all of a sudden they want to close on us," he said.

Workers at one of the company's busiest locations in North America, Starbucks cafe on Commercial Dr., felt similarly. "They're making it sound as though it's wrong to have a union when it's our legal right," said Allison Mersereau, referring to Starbucks' statements in the media and posted in stores.

The company lowered wages from $7.50 to $7 per hour, the minimum wage in BC, in October 1995. "In 1995, I would have been making 50 cents more than I am today. For the amount of money that I make for them, I think I deserve a little more," said Melinda Symak, 19, who works at the Commercial Dr. cafe.

New York garment workers face negotiations
NEW YORK - Contracts for more than 40,000 members of the Union of Needletrades Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) are expiring. The contracts for workers in the women's outerwear industry expire May 31, 1997.

Negotiations for a new contract are also taking place for 2,500 members of UNITE Local 62-32 in New York working in the Embroidery, Belt and Pleaters Division. Their contract expires June 30.

UNITE Local 23-25, the largest UNITE local in New York, opened its 1997 contract negotiations on March 26 with the New York Skirt and Sportswear Association and the National Association of Blouse Manufacturers.

The opening session with the contractor associations-the Greater Blouse, Skirt and Undergarment Association, the Sportswear Apparel Association, and the Metropolitan Area Apparel Association-took place on April 3. The contract for Local 23-25 union members expire May 31.

Demands for the new three-year contract include a 16 percent wage increase for all week and piece workers, an increase in minimums commensurate with the wage increase for all week and piece workers, an increase in holiday pay, and an increase in employers' contributions to the health and welfare fund.

The employers rejected the demands outright. Some associations are pushing to lower overtime pay, allow Sunday work, and slash benefits. Negotiating sessions between union representatives and the employers' associations are continuing. UNITE Local 23-25 is distributing information and buttons to members that say "UNITE for a fair contract" in English, Spanish and Chinese.

Sigurlaug Gunnlaugsdóttir from Iceland; Jake Garvey, member of the Young Socialists and Ned Dmytryshyn, member of International Association of Machinists Lodge 764 from Vancouver; and Deborah Liatos member of UNITE Local 25 in New York contributed to this column.  
 
 
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