Policy statement of the Socialist Group

A dignified life for all is the main focus of the Socialist Group's policy. The eradication of poverty among the working classes, disabled people, pensioners, immigrants, self-employed individuals, farmers, and owners of smaller businesses, as well as good housing and conditions for living a good and healthy life, is a fundamental prerequisite for prosperity in society. We want to democratize workplaces and other factors that determine people's livelihoods. We want people to have a significant say in determining the conditions they live under, what rules and standards should apply, and how the 'cake' is divided among people. Laws must be changed to eliminate all violence in workplaces and elsewhere. The following are the main policy points:

• Increased equality between classes.
• Increased empowerment of the public and democratization.
• Increased power of the labor movement.
• Increased rights for employees with new laws.
• Increased power for interest groups of disabled people, tenants, consumers, and pensioners.
• Increased emphasis on the establishment of employee-owned cooperatives.
• Increased emphasis on preventing the so-called Functional Capacity Assessment for disabled people.
• Increased emphasis on general welfare with a free welfare system in a broad sense.
• Increased power for small-scale fisheries and the abolition of the quota system in its current form.
• Increased rights for the regions in the country
• Increased power for farmers and the abolition of the strong position of intermediaries in agriculture.
• Increased rights for pensioners in the labor market and with trade unions.
• Increased emphasis on the eradication of wage theft, human trafficking, and all forms of violence.
• Increased emphasis on ensuring chain liability for employers in the labor market.
• Increased emphasis on opposition to Salek/Green Paper

There is now a looming danger that the government intends to introduce Salek through the back door in the form of a Green Paper. The Socialist Group completely rejects Salek, or whatever name it may be called. The reason is that with this system, the negotiating rights of employees and trade unions will be drastically curtailed, and a select few will be given an unduly large amount of power to discuss changes in employees' terms and conditions. Salek stands for cooperation on wage information and economic prerequisites for collective agreements, where a committee of experts makes decisions on wage increases, and/or how much room there is for improvements in terms. All of this is supposed to happen in pleasant discussions with employers. Salek is a unilateral tool to keep lower and middle wages in check. Salek places the responsibility for stability on low-wage earners. There has been strong opposition to Salek, but now the government seems to be trying to reintroduce it under a new name or as a Green Paper.

The Socialist Group also completely rejects the Functional Capacity Assessment. The authorities, however, are very keen on it. It targets disabled people, and its goal is to assess how much they can work in the labor market and reduce their benefits accordingly. But the Functional Capacity Assessment in Iceland is a wolf in sheep's clothing when examined closely. Why? Firstly, because the Icelandic labor market is far from ready for such a change, and secondly, because disabled people will have the rug pulled out from under them if illnesses recur. If they then lose their jobs, nothing awaits them but unemployment benefits. After that, they will have to rely on municipal assistance if they cannot find work again or cannot work due to illness.

Increased power for the public and the democratization of companies is an absolute prerequisite for achieving the goal that everyone can live a dignified and good life in Iceland. The policy of the Socialist Party of Iceland addresses this and states: “The Socialist Party of Iceland wants the development of society to be guided by the interests of the public. Therefore, the public needs to gain power, not only over public institutions but also over their immediate environment. The workplace, the trade union, the school, the neighborhood, the municipality, the village – all these areas should be under decentralized governance where the interests of the people are paramount.” And the policy also states: “The Socialist Party of Iceland is the party of employees and all those who live with scarcity, invisibility, and powerlessness. The opponents of the Socialist Party of Iceland are capital and its proxies. The platform of the Socialist Party of Iceland is a broad class struggle that rejects compromises and false dialogue. In its work, the Socialist Party of Iceland emphasizes what unites the people of the country; the injustice they face and the will to break free from it.” This accurately describes the policy objectives of the Socialist Group.

The power of the labor movement must be greatly increased. The foundations on which its power rests are ancient and outdated laws from 1938. It is common practice that the labor movement is not consulted when important economic decisions concerning employees' terms are made. Disabled people and pensioners are also excluded, even though most of these people have been in the labor market and many are burnt out after heavy workloads. Despite the labor movement representing 200,000 people in the labor market, it has been too subservient to the Confederation of Icelandic Employers and the authorities. A sign of revitalization has, however, emerged with sharper focuses, but the position of the labor movement is still far too weak. The Socialist Group considers this completely unacceptable. As the situation stands now, the working classes can do little between collective agreements, being prisoners of a peace obligation, which means that employees can do almost nothing even if conditions in the labor market and society call for action. Strikes and work stoppages are prohibited. The prevailing mindset in society, including within the labor movement, is that it is normal for employers to have a much stronger position in the labor market than employees. The manifestation of such attitudes is reflected in the social structure we live in, where employers hold the reins. This must change.

According to the Socialist Group, the labor movement does not sufficiently utilize its power and strength to gain the authority needed to improve the well-being of employees, disabled people, and pensioners. The labor movement in Iceland is a financially strong mass movement of employees with a strong organization and skilled staff, and it possesses the resources necessary to secure its power in such a way that no laws are passed, no bills approved, no regulations, or anything else decided that concerns the lives and livelihoods of the working classes without the labor movement shaping those decisions. No other mass movement in Iceland possesses stronger resources than the labor movement.