Wage disputes could significantly impact passport control at Keflavík International Airport, leading to long lines. Border guards will go on strike tonight at midnight, unless an agreement is reached with the state. Police officers, who handle passport control along with border guards, have also been employing unconventional methods to draw attention to their demands for higher wages, calling in sick in large numbers. Taken together these actions could nearly paralyze passport control at Keflavík Airport.
Border guards will strike four days each week
Border guards at Keflavík Airport belong to the Union of Public Servants, SFR. If agreement is not reached with the state by midnight the union will begin rolling strikes, striking four days each week, Mondays-Tuesdays and Thursdays-Fridays. This strike action will continue into November, when the Union will make a decision on a full strike if an agreement has not been reached.
As passport control is handled jointly by border guards and police the strike action will mean passport control will not stop, but slow down. Guðni Sigurðsson, the spokesman of the Union, told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that passengers at Keflavík Airport can expect significant delays and lines at the airport.
An epidemic of the “sympathy flu” would close down the border
Police officers are also locked in a labour conflict with the state, demanding higher wages. As the Police does not have the right to strike, officers have been employing unconventional tools in their struggle. One of these is to call in sick in large numbers on Fridays. When officers called in sick last Friday long lines developed at Keflavík, where passengers from outside the Schengen Area, primarily the US and Britain, as well as Asia, had to wait in line for more than an hour.
If an epidemic of what has been dubbed “the sympathy-flu” hits the police force on Friday, when border guards will be on strike, passport control at the airport will be effectively paralyzed. Guðni explains that this will effectively close down the border:
“But if there are no border guards, and police officers call in sick, all traffic to and from Britain and the US will be stopped. There is no third party who can take care of these jobs.”
Wage disputes could significantly impact passport control at Keflavík International Airport, leading to long lines. Border guards will go on strike tonight at midnight, unless an agreement is reached with the state. Police officers, who handle passport control along with border guards, have also been employing unconventional methods to draw attention to their demands for higher wages, calling in sick in large numbers. Taken together these actions could nearly paralyze passport control at Keflavík Airport.
Border guards will strike four days each week
Border guards at Keflavík Airport belong to the Union of Public Servants, SFR. If agreement is not reached with the state by midnight the union will begin rolling strikes, striking four days each week, Mondays-Tuesdays and Thursdays-Fridays. This strike action will continue into November, when the Union will make a decision on a full strike if an agreement has not been reached.
As passport control is handled jointly by border guards and police the strike action will mean passport control will not stop, but slow down. Guðni Sigurðsson, the spokesman of the Union, told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that passengers at Keflavík Airport can expect significant delays and lines at the airport.
An epidemic of the “sympathy flu” would close down the border
Police officers are also locked in a labour conflict with the state, demanding higher wages. As the Police does not have the right to strike, officers have been employing unconventional tools in their struggle. One of these is to call in sick in large numbers on Fridays. When officers called in sick last Friday long lines developed at Keflavík, where passengers from outside the Schengen Area, primarily the US and Britain, as well as Asia, had to wait in line for more than an hour.
If an epidemic of what has been dubbed “the sympathy-flu” hits the police force on Friday, when border guards will be on strike, passport control at the airport will be effectively paralyzed. Guðni explains that this will effectively close down the border:
“But if there are no border guards, and police officers call in sick, all traffic to and from Britain and the US will be stopped. There is no third party who can take care of these jobs.”
