The Social Affairs and Housing Minister says it is very important to protect the approach agreed in the 2024 collective agreements. If the government can help prevent the collective agreements from being terminated, it is prepared to do so. Success would benefit society as a whole.
Uncertainty ahead in the labour market
Inflation was 5.6% in August, making it clear that the assumptions underpinning the collective agreements reached in 2024 had failed. For them to have held, inflation would have needed to be 4.7%. It is therefore fair to say that considerable uncertainty lies ahead in the labour market.
Ragnar Þór Ingólfsson, Social Affairs and Housing Minister, says the major unions and the government have had good discussions over the summer about how to respond. Particular attention is being paid to the housing market, which in his view is by far the biggest wage-related issue.
Ragnar Þór says various issues that have featured prominently in discussions among ASÍ (the Icelandic Confederation of Labour) member unions fit well with government policy, and he sees no major obstacles in that regard.
Labour-market abuses and housing issues weigh heavily
Labour-market abuses and housing are extremely important issues, Ragnar Þór says. Other matters relating to business could prove more complicated, but despite that he says he remains optimistic.
He says he has had good discussions with the union leaders themselves, and a meeting of the National Economic Council is planned this week, where he expects greater momentum to be put into work connected with wage agreements. That is particularly the case now that it has become clear that the assumptions underpinning the collective agreements have failed.
Protecting the path taken in 2024 benefits society as a whole
Asked whether he is optimistic that a breakdown in the labour market can be prevented this autumn, Ragnar Þór reiterates the importance of a good outcome.
I think it is simply very important for businesses, the trade union movement and, of course, the government as well to protect the path [approach] that was taken here in 2024. It benefits society as a whole and all parties involved, and if we can help facilitate that effort, then of course we will do everything we can.
