Not in our name

According to the payslip of a former foreign bus driver, who worked temporarily for Strætó bs., which I have in my possession, Strætó collected rent and flight tickets from the individual whom the company had hired through a staffing agency. The rent was 70 thousand krónur, for sharing a room with another person. Based on a statement from Strætó, which the company issued after I initiated a discussion about the poor situation of immigrants in low-wage jobs and on the rental market, it cannot be assumed that Strætó rents out beds for its staff or charges for their flight to Iceland. It can therefore be assumed that Strætó deducted bed rental and flight fares from the employee and transferred them to the staffing agency that provides Strætó with labor, likely Elju, as Strætó's statement indicated that the company works with Elju. It should be noted that most of Elju's owners are employees of Gamma's subsidiary; Heildar fasteignafélag.

According to laws from 1930, employers are obliged to pay their employees their wages in valid currency, and they are not permitted to offset debts with employees unless specifically agreed upon. These laws were enacted to protect employees, as before this time, more than 88 years ago, many business owners exploited the vulnerable position of workers and reclaimed a large portion of their wages through rent, credit in stores they themselves operated, and so on. These laws were put in place to protect employees from business owners reclaiming their wages. It is therefore unacceptable for an employer to collect from people's wages on behalf of a third party. Companies collect for taxes, pension funds, and trade unions, but they are not permitted to deduct from employees' wages due to debts to other companies. Even if an employee signs an agreement that permits such a thing, valid arguments can be made that due to the vulnerable position of immigrants vis-à-vis landlords and employers, such agreements are invalid. It is punishable when people use their strong position against those who are vulnerable to make the vulnerable waive their rights.

It is because of this vulnerable position of staff towards Strætó and the staffing agency that I cannot include a picture of the payslip here. But I would like to state that the person in question no longer works in this country.

It has previously been reported that staff in other industries hired through the staffing agency Elju are charged 75 thousand krónur per month for a bed (see DV news:http://www.dv.is/…/rukka-erlenda-starfsmenn-um-150-thusund…/). By thus cramming foreign workers into apartments and other housing, two and even more per room, as can be seen in the news report, the staffing agency collects multiple times the rent compared to what would be obtained for the property if it were rented to a single party. However, it has not been revealed before that Strætó bs., a company owned by all of us, collects this outrageously high rent from the drivers who are on low wages. Strætó is therefore an active participant in the exploitation by staffing agencies against Strætó drivers.

And Strætó, through its dealings with Elju, is also responsible for how the drivers are lured to the country. According to Strætó's statement, the company has had a three-year business relationship with Elju. In an advertisement on the Romanian websitehttps://www.olx.ro/…/soferi-autobuz-islanda-cu-limba-englez…a positive picture of the job is painted. It states that a great job opportunity is offered, including a generous package with basic monthly wages of 2500 euros net (approx. 330 thousand kr.). The advertisement states that the staff will work for Reykjavík City Hall, which is not true. It also states that housing, flight tickets, and transportation from the airport will be fully paid by the employer, but that this will later be deducted from wages without further explanation. The advertisement states that the staffing agency does not take any commission from its staff. But the staffing agency then receives substantial amounts from Strætó bs. as commission for each employee. This is part of the recruitment process that Strætó bs. HR or personnel managers should otherwise be handling.

To receive 330 thousand krónur net, a driver needs to have more than 450 thousand krónur in gross wages, and to achieve that, they need to work a lot, including evenings and weekends. But then, rent for the bed and flight tickets still need to be deducted from them. To receive 330 thousand krónur net after rent, the driver would need to have about 575 thousand krónur in gross wages, which is almost impossible for a driver at Strætó to achieve. Elju's advertisement therefore presents a different picture of the job than reality.

Strætó is a public company. It is owned by us, the residents of Reykjavík and the surrounding municipalities, and it is operated under our responsibility. This illustrates how far the erosion of workers' rights and conditions has progressed when public companies pay their staff low wages and then deduct a large portion as a deduction from their salaries. Thus, a public company has effectively become part of a network of unscrupulous private companies.

Strætó bs., our public company for the residents of the capital area, has become a collection agency for predatory GAMMA, which exploits the distress of low-income individuals. Doubtless, Strætó's management justifies this by claiming they are not breaking any laws, trusting that the contracts staff are made to sign are structured accordingly. But that doesn't matter. The board and management of Strætó have no authority to drag our collective company into deplorable profiteering that preys on the distress of foreign workers under the guise of poor protection from Icelandic authorities and the slow response of the labor movement to developments in the Icelandic labor market towards increased exploitation and oppression.

Recently, there has been much discussion about exploitative practices against foreign staff, and now it has come to light that Strætó deals with a company that has been mentioned in that context. I condemn the conduct of Strætó bs. towards its staff and urge all owners of Strætó to do the same, all residents of the capital area. I demand that Strætó pay its staff the wages they have earned and cease all collection on behalf of staffing agencies and landlords. Throughout the last century, workers fought for their rights and freedom from the oppression of company owners. When public companies like Strætó participate in undermining these rights, we must stand up and say stop. No exploitation against foreign staff in low-wage jobs, and least of all in our name.

Sanna Magdalena Mörtudóttir