Samningalotan 2019-2020
English below
Kjaratölfræðinefnd gefur út tvær skýrslur á ári, að vori og hausti. Í skýrslunum eru settar fram upplýsingar sem nefndin er sammála um að gefi skýra mynd af stöðu og þróun kjara- og efna- hagsmála. Nefndin markar sér sjálf efnistök en í skýrslunum skal lýsa þróun launa, tekna og verðlags, stöðu og horfum í efnahags-og atvinnumálum, samkeppnishæfni landsins og gera alþjóðlegan samanburð.
Fyrsta skýrsla nefndarinnar „Samningalotan 2019-2020“ kom út í september 2020.
Collective Bargaining Round 2019-2020
This report provides an overview of the current state of the economy and describes the impact of the economic slowdown on the labour market. It gives an outline of the most recent collective agreements and shows the evolution of wages during the current bargaining round, based on data provided by Statistics Iceland.
The report contains the first ever comprehensive survey of the collective bargaining process in Iceland. An attempt was made to gather information about every collective agreement already completed or yet to be completed in this bargaining round, including on the number of union members with a right to vote on the agreements, and on the results of each vote. The Committee recommends the State Conciliation and Mediation Officer take action to improve the gathering and analysis of exhaustive data of this kind.
The Committee on Labour Market Statistics also followed the work of the working group appointed by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs to establish a process for the comprehensive collection of wage data from employers. The aim is for the information collected to cover all workers and every economic activity, in order to allow for the creation of detailed data sets with a high degree of usefulness for those involved in collective bargaining or labour market research. The Committee for Labour Market Statistics considers this work important and urges the government to provide adequate support for the project.
This initial report by the Committee was prepared under unusual circumstances. The economy has suffered an acute slowdown as a result of the corona crisis. Many businesses have either closed or been forced to scale back their activities significantly. Unemployment has soared, and most—though not all—industries are experiencing a severe economic downturn. The average changes observed in the wage statistics therefore mask an exceptional situation where individual persons are affected to a highly varying degree. Thus, while the purchasing power of hourly pay rates remains high in a historical context, the purchasing power of those who have lost their jobs has fallen by several tens of per cent.