“In general, there appears to be an underlying tendency to view
foreign workers as an economic resource rather than as full members of
Icelandic society who are entitled to the corresponding rights” says
Gudrun D. Gudmundsdottir, director of the Icelandic Human Rights
Centre.
In January 2006 the population of Iceland reached 300,000, doubling
from 1953. Last year 340,000 foreigners visited the country. Anna
Karlsdottir assistant professor in tourism studies at the University of
Iceland, says that a large number of them are foreign workers or people
related to them. “Many of those workers are working only temporarily in
the country”.
According to Statistics Iceland the number of foreigners with a
legal residence in Iceland reached 4,6 % of the whole population, or
13.778 people, by the end of 2005. For the past decade this percentage
has almost tripled, in 1996 it was 1,8 %. It may be noted that these
statistics do not count all the workers who come to work in Iceland for
a short term only.
The Directorate of Labour says that the majority of foreign workers
are employed in large-scale industry, approximately 40 % of all work
permits were granted to companies in that field. The majority work in
eastern Iceland, in Karahnjukar and Reydarfjordur.
Out of a population of 14.000 in this part of the country, about
2000 are foreign men and a little over 400 are foreign women.
Although a significant number of the population in Eastern Iceland
are foreign born, Einar Skulason, managing director of the
Intercultural Centre, says their impact on society is
limited.
The people are living and working in remote, isolated places,
outside the Icelandic villages. They seldom leave the workplace,
children go to school at the plant and the contact with the Icelandic
population is minimal.
Icelanders polled in the area say they find the impact of foreign
workers is less than they had anticipated.
“Foreigners come to Iceland to work”, Einar says. “Most come from
Poland, where unemployment is high. Many leave children and spouses
behind and plan to return.” Unemployment amongst foreigners is less
than 2 %. They are prominent in many fields where command of Icelandic
is not necessary In the food industry 15-20 % of the workers are
foreigners, 10-I5 % in fish processing, and 10-I5 % in menial jobs such
as cleaning. In general, foreigners work long hours and do not
participate actively in Icelandic society.
Temporary work agencies (TWA) are a recent phenomenon in the
Icelandic labour market. These are companies that hire out workers for
a fee.
In the wake of several cases of abuse, a law on TWAs was passed in
2005, taking effect one month ago. From that day all operating TWAs had
to be registered. Their exact number is unknown but to date 12 TWAs
have registered, Halldor Gronvold, the assistant managing director of
the Icelandic Confederation of Labour (ASI), says ASI has good reasons
to believe that not all operating TWAs have registered and have thus
broken the law.
Einar says that although generally things are working quite well,
much remains to be done, “For instance, the rights of foreign workers
vary from one pension fund to another. These need to be
coordinated.”
Gudrun D. Gudmundsdottir says that the rights of foreigners in the
workplace and daily life need to be addressed in a comprehensive
manner
“It is problematic that no single actor is responsible for informing
workers of their rights and duties before or after their arrival in
lceland. This is generally in the hands of the employer”. A study
carried out by the Multicultural Center showed that 62 % of the
participants had signed an employment contract without understanding
it, in whole or in part. “Furthermore, temporary work permits are
issued to the employer; not the employee. This creates an unequal
relationship where the worker is unreasonably dependent on the
employer.”
