Negotiations on a new labor contract between the union of airline mechanics and Business Iceland, which handles collective wage negotiations on behalf of its members, have so far been unsuccessful. If no agreement is reached before Sunday the union will strike. The strike will only affect mechanics who work for Icelandair. WOW air will be unaffected by the strike.
Strike at Icelandair, not WOW air
A meeting between representatives of the union and Business Iceland yesterday ended without an agreement. The chairman of the union told the local news site Vísir that the meeting wasn't completely without any results, but the two parties are nowhere nearer to an agreement.
Airline mechanics at Icelandair have been without a contract since August 31, while the agreement between the union and WOW expired at the end of October. The chairman of the mechanics' union told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that negotiations on a new contract with WOW are going well. A possible strike would only affect Icelandair, not WOW air or any foreign airlines flying to Keflavík Airport.
Thousands of travel plans could be upset
The union has voted to go on strike on Sunday December 17 at 6:00 AM if an agreement is not reached. Icelandair employs nearly three hundred airline mechanics. Passengers who have booked flights with Icelandair might face some delays or disruptions due to the strike.
As many as 10,000 passengers have booked flights with Icelandair each day until December 31. Halldór Benjamín Þorbergsson, the CEO of Business Iceland told the local news site Vísir that the mechanics are threatening a strike at the worst possible moment, during the holidays when tens of thousands of foreign visitors are planning to travel to Iceland
State will not step in with legislation
The Minister of Transportation met with representatives of the two sides on Tuesday, but ruled out the idea of passing an emergency law to ban the strike.
Halldór Benjamín, of Business Iceland, which conducts bargaining on collective wage agreements for its members, told the National Broadcasting Service that the demands of engineers are completely unrealistic and go far beyond anything the company might be able to meet, and outstrip wage increases other groups have received. He added, however, that nobody wanted a strike, with the disruption this would bring to the travel plans of thousands of passengers.
Negotiations on a new labor contract between the union of airline mechanics and Business Iceland, which handles collective wage negotiations on behalf of its members, have so far been unsuccessful. If no agreement is reached before Sunday the union will strike. The strike will only affect mechanics who work for Icelandair. WOW air will be unaffected by the strike.
Strike at Icelandair, not WOW air
A meeting between representatives of the union and Business Iceland yesterday ended without an agreement. The chairman of the union told the local news site Vísir that the meeting wasn't completely without any results, but the two parties are nowhere nearer to an agreement.
Airline mechanics at Icelandair have been without a contract since August 31, while the agreement between the union and WOW expired at the end of October. The chairman of the mechanics' union told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that negotiations on a new contract with WOW are going well. A possible strike would only affect Icelandair, not WOW air or any foreign airlines flying to Keflavík Airport.
Thousands of travel plans could be upset
The union has voted to go on strike on Sunday December 17 at 6:00 AM if an agreement is not reached. Icelandair employs nearly three hundred airline mechanics. Passengers who have booked flights with Icelandair might face some delays or disruptions due to the strike.
As many as 10,000 passengers have booked flights with Icelandair each day until December 31. Halldór Benjamín Þorbergsson, the CEO of Business Iceland told the local news site Vísir that the mechanics are threatening a strike at the worst possible moment, during the holidays when tens of thousands of foreign visitors are planning to travel to Iceland
State will not step in with legislation
The Minister of Transportation met with representatives of the two sides on Tuesday, but ruled out the idea of passing an emergency law to ban the strike.
Halldór Benjamín, of Business Iceland, which conducts bargaining on collective wage agreements for its members, told the National Broadcasting Service that the demands of engineers are completely unrealistic and go far beyond anything the company might be able to meet, and outstrip wage increases other groups have received. He added, however, that nobody wanted a strike, with the disruption this would bring to the travel plans of thousands of passengers.
