VR Leaves Negotiating Table, Finance Minister Denies Blame - IcelandReview

The Prime Minister has expressed disappointment successful VR’s determination to interruption disconnected wage negotiations with SA Thursday evening. The Minister of Finance does not judge his comments connected the Central Bank’s interest-rate hike were “the deciding factor,” RÚV reports.

Mixed messaging among ministers

This morning, Ragnar Þór Ingólfsson, Chair of VR (the Store and Office Workers’ Union) confirmed to RÚV that helium had walked retired of negotiations with SA (the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise) past night, which had precocious been referred to the authorities mediator.

The reasons, Ragnar stated, were “numerous,” though the incongruous messaging of Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir and Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktson concerning the Central Bank’s interest-rate hikes “played a role.”

Prior to the Central Bank announcing that it would beryllium raising involvement rates, VR and SA had been aiming toward an statement predicated connected little ostentation and a little involvement rate:

“But past the Central Bank announced a hike, which, successful reality, altered the premises from which we had hoped to proceed,” Ragnar Þór told RÚV. “The PM subsequently invited america to a gathering yesterday morning, successful which she attempted to reset the parties’ expectations. It was a beauteous bully meeting.”

Ragnar observed that the parties proceeded to Karphúsið (the facilities of the authorities negotiator) wherever they hoped to proceed their negotiations astatine noon.

“We’ve hardly taken our seats erstwhile an announcement is made by the Minister of Finance successful which helium echoes the Governor’s (the Central Bank) message, which is wholly astatine likelihood with what the PM had told us. After that, the negotiations became rather difficult. And erstwhile it became wide the benignant of ideas that SA were entertaining regarding a 14-month contract, which we had been discussing, it was evident that determination was nary crushed to proceed negotiating.”

An interest-rate hike of immoderate consequence

Following a furniture gathering this morning, Katrín Jakobsdóttir discussed Thursday’s wage-negotiation illness with RÚV. Asked if she had wished that the Central Bank had not raised involvement rates, Katrín responded thusly:

“The Central Bank makes its ain decisions successful accordance with the statutory aims nether which it operates. It’s not my spot to remark connected those decisions, but it is wide that this determination led to the illness of negotiations.”

“I regret the information that VR decided that it was due to permission the negotiating array astatine this time, but I anticipation that we tin find immoderate benignant of opening,” Katrín added.

“Best to talk honestly”

Given Ragnar’s comments connected the effect that the ministers’ differing opinions connected the interest-rate hike had had connected negotiations, Bjarni Benediktsson was asked to respond: whether helium felt that his comments, justifying the Central Bank’s actions, had been a deciding origin successful the illness of negotiations.

“No, I deliberation it’s ever champion to beryllium wholly honorable astir things,” Bjarni remarked. “And I conscionable saw an announcement from VR, wherever nary notation is made of my comments; it’s apt that the premises had changed pursuing the Central Bank’s decisions, premises from which the parties had hoped to negotiate.”

Bjarni told RÚV that it was wide that ostentation would emergence and that it was lone earthy for the Central Bank to employment those tools astatine its disposal to support ostentation successful check:

“But the information is that the ostentation forecasts person worsened, and the shade of ostentation is acceptable to travel america a spot longer, and ostentation volition beryllium higher adjacent twelvemonth than we had hoped conscionable a fewer months ago. The hostility successful the system runs high. We’re nearing maximum accumulation capableness and the level of employment is precise high. Consumption is high, which is 1 of the factors to which the Central Bank has pointed. It doesn’t truly astonishment maine that the Central Bank continues to nonstop these wide messages, that it volition proceed to combat inflation, and it’s desirable that each of america cooperate to bash the same.”

VR is Iceland’s largest commercialized union, representing immoderate 40,000 workers.