INTRODUCTION IN ENGLISH

Starfsmannafélag Reykjavíkurborgar- Reykjavik's municipal employees´ association

Starfsmannafélag Reykjavíkurborgar, St.Rv., is the public service union of the City of Reykjavík. Since St.Rv. was founded in 1926 the membership has increased steadily and is now approximately 4.000 members. Members are both from the public and the general sector.

The Public sector extends to those employees the St.Rv. union undertakes general wage agreements for. That basically means employees of the City of Reykjavik but also former employers of the municipality, who´s duties have been overtaken by the State. The General sector covers individuals employed by former municipal companies that have been privatized, but are still working for the public good. They do not enjoy the status of public employees in terms of the law, but are guaranteed many of the same rights under the agreements made by the St.Rv. union.
The main objective of Reykjavik's municipal employees´ association has been from the beginning, to improve wages, working conditions and job security for our members. At the same time the struggle for various rights has been fought under the auspices of our umbrella organization, the BSRB, the Federation of State and Municipal Employees. Under the St.Rv. bylaws, all employees who work in areas covered by general wage agreement made by St.Rv., automatically become members and are obliged to pay membership fees. While a member may resign from the St.Rv., he or she are obliged to pay fees to the union under the General Wage Agreements of Public Servants Act, as long as his/hers wages are dictated by wage agreements signed by St.Rv.

The Federation of State and Municipal Employees

Reykjavik's municipal employees´ association, St.Rv., is a member of BSRB, the Federation of State and Municipal Employees.
BSRB is a confederation of 28 unions who’s members are employed by local governments as well as the state.
Since BSRB was founded in 1942 the membership has increased steadily and is now approximately 18.000 members, where of two thirds are women. The total working force of Iceland is close to 150.000.
The unions in BSRB have the collective bargaining right. Usually the unions bargain individually for wage agreements, but for other rights, such as pensions etc., they often work together under the auspices of BSRB. Since 1986 the unions have the right to strike, although their right is subjected to more restrictions than in the private sector.

Some of the rights and benefits that members of St.Rv. have.