The Icelandic National Party
Well folks, this one has been brewing inside me since we got back to Iceland.
The first news items that welcomed us back were reports from the Liberal Party in Iceland. They were airing their views on the immigrant issues, which are close to my heart for obvious reasons. Note that I’m not a fan of the word immigrant, I just lack the vocabulary knowledge to find a word with the same descriptional value of certain individuals situation.
First, some history. The Liberal Party is not, as you would think reading the name, a left wing party. In fact it is very right wing and was founded by Sverrir Hermannsson (who was later involved in some business fraud issues if I remember correctly) in 1998 when he resigned from the Independent Party, as he didn’t feel they were far enough to the right. That was how it looked to me anyway as a young man with limited interest in politics and no knowledge of immigrant issues. In the municipal elections of May 2002, they won a seat in the Reykjavík City Council. The party also won a seat in the town council of Ísafjörður, in the Westfirðir area. In it’s second parliamentary elections of May 2003 the Liberal Party doubled it’s support from the last elections and got 7.4% of the total vote. In the latest polls they are ranked last .. that is fifth after my old school chum in the progressive party that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. This doesn't mean they won't get a seat in congress ... they might well do in the upcoming elections.
Now, as we are speaking of immigrant issues, keep in mind that on the Liberal Party webpage they say:
The Liberal Party is a political movement emphasising liberal views, democracy and equal citizen’s rights.
The party opposes all priveleges and monopolies of any kind, but supports freedom and independance of the individual.
The Liberal Party will help those who are left out by the existing authorities.
The Liberal Party supports the co-operation of Iceland with other European countries on an equal footing.
At this stage lets keep in mind that according to the online english dictionary the word liberal means (amongst other things):
Favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs.
Favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.
Free from prejudice or bigotry; tolerant: a liberal attitude toward foreigners.
Note that last one ... a liberal attitude towards foreigners.
This all sounds great. The fact that they also oppose whaling is a good enough reason to vote for them, surely! But ... ooops! ... They’ve been talking about immigrants. Now, this isn’t a stated policy like the ones I’ve taken off there website but rather the things that they have been saying in interviews with the media and articles that they have been writing.
This off their web page:
Very cheap labour has been flooding into the country from the poorer countries of East-Europe which lowers the wages of Icelandic workers. Immigrants work low paid jobs for wages that Icelanders would never accept but these outsiders gladly do because of shortages and difficult situations in their home country.
There are examples of employers making Icelandic workers redundant to hire cheap labour. Or is their any other explanation for contractors making people redundant at the same time that there is a big need for increased labour.
I couldn’t find any of these examples when I searched but I found laws that clearly state that this practice would be illegal ... I didn’t find any examples of these laws being put into practice. Anyway their statements are contradictory because in the first sentence it says that there are examples and in the next it doesn’t quote them but instead implies that ‘there must be examples, there is no other explanation.’ This is a naive and childish form of backing up your words and doesn’t really hold water as far as I am concerned.
Just for the record, there are many other reasons for mass redundancy. The fact is that the Icelandic economy has been on an upswing for a few years but is now going back. House prices have stopped rising, it is harder to get a mortgage than when we moved here a year ago (i.e. they don’t lend you 100% anymore) etc. That is the most common reason for mass redundancies, cutting out disposable employees ... harsh but true. There have been no reported mass-hirings of Eastern-European workers as far as I remember. Not in the same numbers as the redunancies that have been reported anyway.
One of my best friends here is a freelance plasterer who does work for individuals and contractors. He told me that, yes, there is a notable increase in Eastern-European labour in his trade and that sometimes he feels like a foreigner as he doesn’t understand the languages being spoken in his workplace. But he also told me that he has never been short of jobs, can charge what he wants and has got higher wages now than he ever has in this industry. He has been plastering for 20 years and knows alot of people in the industry. He doesn’t know anyone who has been sacked from a job to be replaced by cheaper labour.
You all know the story about Joanna and her nursing licence which won’t be recognised in Iceland. I won’t go into all that again cos it’ll just ruin my day. This is what the so-called Liberal Party has to say about that:
The educated people of Iceland are more tolerant towards immigrants. This is because they have built a wall around themselves. Doctors from Eastern-Europe do not get to work here unless they retake their doctors studies and the same goes for nurses and other areas of practice.
You all know that you don’t have to come from Eastern-Europe to end up in this situation in Iceland. The Icelandic BNP (The INP?) continue:
It is a different story for labourers. Nobody ensures that they have the learned skills [...] The workers union doesn’t look at every individuals certificate but concentrates on the companies that employ the workers and ensure they get the correct wages.
They put this forth as a complaint. What is wrong with that? The union ensures the wages aren’t discriminatory and the employment agency checks out the certificate. They want labourers to get the same stone-wall treatment that my wife, my children and so many others get here. I know that a couple of employment agencies were taken to court for offering cheap labour but they lost their cases and were put out of business. I’m sure that most employment agencies actually ensure that their employees recieve decent wages which ensures that they will continue to work for the agency and hence continue to bring in money to the agency. That’s supply, demand and good management.
The last straw was when they said:
Iceland is not a multi-cultural society and shouldn’t be.
I saw that on their website yesterday ... funnily enough, I can’t find it now ...
So ... not a nice ‘welcome back to Iceland’, but more of a ‘oh, I thought we were rid of you’ sort of vibe. I believe that they are scare mongering to get labourers to vote for them. Unfortunately they will probably succeed to some extent, such is the fear of the foreigners influence in Iceland.
We’ve made the right choice in deciding to leave :-(
The first news items that welcomed us back were reports from the Liberal Party in Iceland. They were airing their views on the immigrant issues, which are close to my heart for obvious reasons. Note that I’m not a fan of the word immigrant, I just lack the vocabulary knowledge to find a word with the same descriptional value of certain individuals situation.
First, some history. The Liberal Party is not, as you would think reading the name, a left wing party. In fact it is very right wing and was founded by Sverrir Hermannsson (who was later involved in some business fraud issues if I remember correctly) in 1998 when he resigned from the Independent Party, as he didn’t feel they were far enough to the right. That was how it looked to me anyway as a young man with limited interest in politics and no knowledge of immigrant issues. In the municipal elections of May 2002, they won a seat in the Reykjavík City Council. The party also won a seat in the town council of Ísafjörður, in the Westfirðir area. In it’s second parliamentary elections of May 2003 the Liberal Party doubled it’s support from the last elections and got 7.4% of the total vote. In the latest polls they are ranked last .. that is fifth after my old school chum in the progressive party that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. This doesn't mean they won't get a seat in congress ... they might well do in the upcoming elections.
Now, as we are speaking of immigrant issues, keep in mind that on the Liberal Party webpage they say:
The Liberal Party is a political movement emphasising liberal views, democracy and equal citizen’s rights.
The party opposes all priveleges and monopolies of any kind, but supports freedom and independance of the individual.
The Liberal Party will help those who are left out by the existing authorities.
The Liberal Party supports the co-operation of Iceland with other European countries on an equal footing.
At this stage lets keep in mind that according to the online english dictionary the word liberal means (amongst other things):
Favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs.
Favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.
Free from prejudice or bigotry; tolerant: a liberal attitude toward foreigners.
Note that last one ... a liberal attitude towards foreigners.
This all sounds great. The fact that they also oppose whaling is a good enough reason to vote for them, surely! But ... ooops! ... They’ve been talking about immigrants. Now, this isn’t a stated policy like the ones I’ve taken off there website but rather the things that they have been saying in interviews with the media and articles that they have been writing.
This off their web page:
Very cheap labour has been flooding into the country from the poorer countries of East-Europe which lowers the wages of Icelandic workers. Immigrants work low paid jobs for wages that Icelanders would never accept but these outsiders gladly do because of shortages and difficult situations in their home country.
There are examples of employers making Icelandic workers redundant to hire cheap labour. Or is their any other explanation for contractors making people redundant at the same time that there is a big need for increased labour.
I couldn’t find any of these examples when I searched but I found laws that clearly state that this practice would be illegal ... I didn’t find any examples of these laws being put into practice. Anyway their statements are contradictory because in the first sentence it says that there are examples and in the next it doesn’t quote them but instead implies that ‘there must be examples, there is no other explanation.’ This is a naive and childish form of backing up your words and doesn’t really hold water as far as I am concerned.
Just for the record, there are many other reasons for mass redundancy. The fact is that the Icelandic economy has been on an upswing for a few years but is now going back. House prices have stopped rising, it is harder to get a mortgage than when we moved here a year ago (i.e. they don’t lend you 100% anymore) etc. That is the most common reason for mass redundancies, cutting out disposable employees ... harsh but true. There have been no reported mass-hirings of Eastern-European workers as far as I remember. Not in the same numbers as the redunancies that have been reported anyway.
One of my best friends here is a freelance plasterer who does work for individuals and contractors. He told me that, yes, there is a notable increase in Eastern-European labour in his trade and that sometimes he feels like a foreigner as he doesn’t understand the languages being spoken in his workplace. But he also told me that he has never been short of jobs, can charge what he wants and has got higher wages now than he ever has in this industry. He has been plastering for 20 years and knows alot of people in the industry. He doesn’t know anyone who has been sacked from a job to be replaced by cheaper labour.
You all know the story about Joanna and her nursing licence which won’t be recognised in Iceland. I won’t go into all that again cos it’ll just ruin my day. This is what the so-called Liberal Party has to say about that:
The educated people of Iceland are more tolerant towards immigrants. This is because they have built a wall around themselves. Doctors from Eastern-Europe do not get to work here unless they retake their doctors studies and the same goes for nurses and other areas of practice.
You all know that you don’t have to come from Eastern-Europe to end up in this situation in Iceland. The Icelandic BNP (The INP?) continue:
It is a different story for labourers. Nobody ensures that they have the learned skills [...] The workers union doesn’t look at every individuals certificate but concentrates on the companies that employ the workers and ensure they get the correct wages.
They put this forth as a complaint. What is wrong with that? The union ensures the wages aren’t discriminatory and the employment agency checks out the certificate. They want labourers to get the same stone-wall treatment that my wife, my children and so many others get here. I know that a couple of employment agencies were taken to court for offering cheap labour but they lost their cases and were put out of business. I’m sure that most employment agencies actually ensure that their employees recieve decent wages which ensures that they will continue to work for the agency and hence continue to bring in money to the agency. That’s supply, demand and good management.
The last straw was when they said:
Iceland is not a multi-cultural society and shouldn’t be.
I saw that on their website yesterday ... funnily enough, I can’t find it now ...
So ... not a nice ‘welcome back to Iceland’, but more of a ‘oh, I thought we were rid of you’ sort of vibe. I believe that they are scare mongering to get labourers to vote for them. Unfortunately they will probably succeed to some extent, such is the fear of the foreigners influence in Iceland.
We’ve made the right choice in deciding to leave :-(
posted by Tóti Freysson at Thursday, November 09, 2006
3 Comments:
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To both anonymous and adsense freak,
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