Four seafood industry unions signed a 10-year collective agreement with Fisheries Iceland (Samtök fyrirtækja í sjávarútvegi, or SFS) last night. The new agreement emphasises wage hikes in line with those of the Federation of General and Special workers in Iceland (SGS), a rise in pension contributions, and increased safety and health for workers. Workers will vote on the agreement in the coming weeks, but negotiators on all sides have expressed satisfaction with the outcome.
On the Icelandic labour market, collective agreements are often negotiated for 2-3 year periods. According to Vísir, the newly-signed fishing industry agreement could be the longest in Icelandic history. Four unions are signatories to the agreement with SFS: the Association of Shipmasters (Félag skipstjórnarmanna), the Seamen’s Association of Iceland (Sjómannasamband Íslands), the Seamen’s and Engineers’ Association of Grindavík (Sjómanna- og vélstjórafélag Grindavíkur) and the VM Association of Engineers and Metal Technicians (VM Félag vélstjóra og máltæknimanna).
The last collective agreement between these parties expired three years ago, and previous negotiations, last held in 2021, proved unsuccessful. The parties began negotiating again at the start of this year and now have an agreement to show for it. Chairman of the Seamen’s Association of Iceland Valmundur Valmundsson said the mood among negotiators was positive and called the agreement a watershed for workers in the industry, which ensured wage hikes in line with hikes on the general labour market as well as better pension benefits. The agreement also establishes a special safety committee to increase emphasis on the health and safety of workers at sea.
The Icelandic seafood industry is one of the country’s key industries, employing around 7,500 people or approximately 3.9% of the workforce. The seafood industry contributes around 8% directly to Iceland’s GDP, but its indirect contributions are much greater. Marine products account for 43% of the value of Iceland’s exported goods.