New poll – overwhelming majority want a common wage policy

A new opinion poll conducted by the Social Science Institute of the University of Iceland for the ASÍ shows that 94% of those who take a position want comparable pay raises for everyone in the upcoming labor negotiations, versus 61% who want larger pay raises for those working in export industries. Additionally, 48% want the labor movement to place the greatest emphasis on securing wage purchasing power in the ongoing labor negotiations, while 24% want the emphasis to be on securing job security.

 

In both questions, only union members were asked. The first question was as follows:

Negotiations for new labor contracts are currently underway. Are you more in favor of the labor movement focusing on comparable pay raises for everyone, or on larger pay raises for those working in the export industries, who are currently benefiting from the króna's exchange rate? 94% said they wanted comparable pay raises for everyone, while 61% wanted those working in the export industries to get larger raises.

The other question concerned what the labor movement should place the greatest emphasis on in the wage negotiations. 19% wanted direct wage increases, 48% wanted the purchasing power to be guaranteed, and 24% wanted the emphasis to be on job security.

The results can be examined more closely. here.

The University's Social Science Institute conducted the poll for the Icelandic Federation of Labor. The sample was a random sample of 1,200 people from the national registry, aged 18 and older. The survey was conducted by telephone from February 5-16, 2011. The net response rate was 62.91%.

Taken from the ASÍ homepage