ASI (Icelandic confederation of Labour) resolution
Play airline wants to offer lower airfares by undermining Icelandic labour standards. The base salary is considerably less than the basic unemployment benefit. The collective agreement that Play submitted to the State Mediator is unsigned and its origins are very unclear. We do know that the agreement was created before the company started hiring flight attendants, and we also know that Play finances ÍFF – the trade union behind the agreement. It is therefore safe to say that Play does not comply with the rules and conventions of the Icelandic labour market. By refusing to sign a collective agreement with Flugfreyjufélag Íslands (The Icelandic Cabin Crew Association), the company has abandoned the organised labour market. This will not be tolerated, and unless the company agrees to start a real negotiation with a real trade union – one that is truly organised by the workers themselves – Play will bring about unrest and dispute in the labour market for the foreseeable future.
In the agreement between Play and ÍFF, an agreement of unclear origins, the lowest wage is 266,500 ISK. In comparison, Icelandair’s lowest wage for flight attendants is 307,000 ISK, the unemployment benefit is 307,430, and the lowest wage for general workers is 331,735 ISK. Play’s base salary includes more flying hours than Icelandair’s, they offer less overtime pay, lower pension fund payments, lower per diem allowance, lower car allowance and December bonus, and more. The agreement does not stipulate payments into a rehabilitation fund, holiday fund, vocational education fund, or sickness benefits fund, and does not assume payments for children’s sick days.
The agreement disregards all principles of Icelandic labour standards.
Alþýðusamband Íslands (The Icelandic Confederation of Labour, ASÍ) demands that Play start a negotiation with the real trade union of flight attendants in Iceland – Flugfreyjufélag Íslands – and also calls for Samtök atvinnulífsins (Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise), which Play is member of, to press for a real collective agreement.
ASÍ encourages the Icelandic nation to boycott the company until they have committed to being part of the Icelandic labour market, and to offering their workers the wages and terms that are up to standards.
Furthermore, ASÍ encourages pension funds and other investor to boycott the company. The company has tried to appeal to investors by bragging about below-standard wages.
ASÍ doubts the legality of the agreement that Play calls a collective agreement, and ASÍ will use any resources available to it according to Act No 80/1938 in order to protect basic worker rights in Iceland, and to demand a collective agreement.
