THIS IS A TRANSLATION ONLY, IN MATTERS OF DISPUTE, PLEASE REFER TO THE ORIGINAL TEXT IN ICELANDIC.
CHAPTER I
NAME AND OBJECTIVES
Art. 1
The name of the Union is Efling-Trade Union and its area of coverage is the jurisdictions of Reykjavík, Kópavogur, Seltjarnarnes, Mosfellsbær and Kjósarsýsla county until Botnsá, Grímsnes and Grafningshreppur, the town of Hveragerði, and Ölfus municipality. Members who work in the restaurant and hotel sector and in industry are also covered in the jurisdictions of Hafnarfjörður, Garðabær and Bessastaðarhreppur. Members who work in Vífilsstaðir and in home-caregiving services are also covered in the jurisdiction of Garðabær. The Union’s address is in Reykjavík. The Union is affiliated to the Federation of General and Special Workers (SGS), and to the Federation of Icelandic Seamen (Sjómannasambands Íslands), which themselves are affiliated to the Icelandic Confederation of Labour (ASÍ).
Art. 2
The objective of the Union shall be to advance and support the interests of its members and their culture, and to encourage the active participation of workers in the local and national governance, in pursuit of their interests. The Union shall strive to determine working hours, pay, working conditions, ensure safety at work, and advance other interests of workers. It will do this by organizing within the Union all workers who work within the Union’s areas of coverage and who make a living in the following professions and their equivalents:
a) Loading and unloading of ships; operating machinery for the distribution of goods; and the reception and delivery of cargo.
b) House construction and the transportation of construction materials.
c) Harbour construction; road construction; trench-digging; agricultural work; and the transportation of materials for this work.
d) State and municipal service work.
e) Home caregiving services; kindergartens; caregiving in hospitals and other institutions; and hospital laundries and sewing workshops.
f) Cleaning services; sanitation; dry cleaning and laundry services.
g) Cafeteria and canteen work.
h) Warden and security guard work and transportation of money.
i) Restaurant and hotel work.
j) Processing and selling marine and agricultural products.
k) Industry and workshop work such as blacksmithing; shipbuilding; tinsmithing and barrel construction; gardening; construction; and heavy industry.
l) Reception and delivery of cargo, including drivers.
m) Oil distribution; gas stations; oil changing; car polishing services; rust protection services; and tyre shops.
n) Operating lorries when contracted by others, operating heavy work machinery, such as bulldozers, excavators and machine cranes.
o) Heavy industry; construction of tunnels; power plants; and other comparable large-scale construction and new similar classes of work.
p) Any other kind of production and transportation work.
q) Fishing and sailing.
CHAPTER II
RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Art. 3
The Union is open to all workers.
A person can become a member if they:
a) Work, have worked, or are about to commence work in any of the professions listed in Art. 2.
b) Have reached 16 years of age.
c) Are neither in debt to nor have unsettled offences with the Union or with other Unions affiliated to the Icelandic Confederation of Labour.
d) Do not run a business or represent an employer in other ways before workers, as a representative or mandated individual.
Those who have been members and have then acquired additional education in their profession have the right to continue their membership with the Union. If it becomes apparent that a person who joined the Union did not have the right to join it, or that they provided incorrect information about their profession or anything else, they will immediately lose all membership rights and will not be granted membership again until they have redressed the problem.
Art. 4
A person who would like to become a member shall send or deliver a membership request to the Union’s office, signed by the applicant, or confirm otherwise. They are thereby full members and have the right to a Union card, providing that they fulfil the conditions of Art. 3 and have paid the membership fees for three months. Decisions to reject Union memberships shall be taken in Board meetings. If a membership application has been rejected, the application cannot be resubmitted for two months. If a person’s membership request is rejected in a Board meeting, the case can be appealed to the Icelandic Federation of General and Special Workers and/or the central committee of the Icelandic Confederation of Labour, but the board’s ruling is valid in the interim.
Art. 5
Resignation from the Union shall be done in writing and shall be submitted to the Union’s office.
Members keep their membership rights while they hold roles of responsibility in the labour movement. A member cannot resign from the Union at the same time as discussions about collective wage agreements, labour disputes over pay or working conditions of the person in question are taking place. Members are also not permitted to resign from the Union in order to take on the jobs of members of another Union who are in a work stoppage due to a labour dispute.
Art. 6
Full members are entitled to:
a) Freedom of speech, the right to submit proposals and to vote in general members’ meetings and in general votes, and eligibility to hold roles of responsibility within the Union and the associations the Union is affiliate to.
b) The right to receive grants from the Union’s funds, in accordance to the funds’ rules.
c) The right to work in the jobs that the Union’s collective wage agreements apply to, and to work by the working conditions determined in agreements at any time.
d) The right to use the Union’s holiday houses and other common properties, as determined in the Union’s regulations and resolutions at any time.
e) The right to attend educational events organized by the Union or by associations which the Union is affiliate to.
f) The right to assistance when the obligations stated in collective wage agreements and conditions of employment are not fulfilled, and to other services provided by the Union.
Art. 7
Responsibilities of the members are to:
a) Obey Union rules, meeting order, and meeting resolutions, and to abide by the agreements that the Union has made with employers and others.
b) Pay membership fees.
c) Provide the Union Board and employees with information about pay and working terms with present and previous employers.
d) No one can avoid accepting being elected to the Board or nominated to do other work in the Union’s interest, unless an excuse is given that is determined to be valid by a meeting of members or the Delegate Council (trúnaðarráð).
e) Accept re-election or hold a position which they are appointed to or elected to for up to four years. At the end of that period, they can be exempt from that work for the next four years.
f) Inform Union employees or the Chairman if a member becomes aware that an offence has taken place within the Union.
g) Encourage other workers to join the Union.
Art. 8
If a member has violated the Union’s rules, regulations or meeting resolutions, damaged the Union or harmed it in any other way, the Union’s Delegate Council is authorized to reprimand the relevant member, or to suspend them from the Union in case of a serious violation or a repeated violation that they have been previously reprimanded for. The Delegate Council can also strip from the relevant person the right to hold roles of responsibility.
If a member is accused of a violation of the union rules, the Delegate Council shall decide on the case after having given the Union Board and the member in question the chance to express themselves about the case.
The Delegate Council’s ruling can be appealed to the Federation of General and Special Workers (SGS) and/or to the central committee of the Icelandic Confederation of Labour (ASÍ). The Delegate Council’s decision is valid in the interim. If a member has been suspended from the Union, they are not able to return unless their application is approved in a Board meeting or in a general members’ meeting.
Membership fees
Art. 9
The membership fee and its form of payment shall be determined in the annual general meeting for each year, and it shall be a certain percentage of wages. A motion to change the membership fee amount shall be submitted seven days prior to the annual general meeting, otherwise it shall be unchanged. A motion to change the membership fee is only approved if 2/3 of votes are in favour.
a) A member who stops working within the industries and professions covered by the Union, does not enjoy full membership rights, such as a right to vote and eligibility, unless it is considered proved that illness, vocational education, unemployment, home situation, leave due to childbirth, or other extenuating circumstances are given as reasons.
b) Those who have not paid membership fees for the past 12 months shall be deleted from the membership register, unless any of the exceptions stated in (a) apply.
c) Members who are 67 years old or more and who have retired may keep their membership rights even though they do not pay the membership fees, provided that they were members at the time of retirement.
CHAPTER III
BOARD – DELEGATE COUNCIL – DEPARTMENTS – UNION DELEGATES – NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE
A. Board
Art. 10
The Board consists of 15 Board members: Chairman, Vice-chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and 11 other Board members.
There shall be two reviewers of the accounts, and one substitute.
Board members’ electoral term is two years.
A Chairman shall be elected every two years.
Out of the other Board members, seven ordinary members shall simultaneously be elected for a two-year period, and seven other Board members shall then be elected the next year. Reviewers of the accounts are elected for a two-year period and they shall be elected on the same year that the Chairman is elected.
The election of the Board and the reviewers of the accounts shall take place no later than before the end of March each year.
Art. 11
The Board oversees the management of all members’ matters between general members’ meetings. The Board convenes general members’ meetings, as stated in Art. 28. The Board is jointly responsible for the Union’s finances and assets. The Board is responsible for the preservation of documents and other information related to the Union’s history. The Board oversees recruitment of the Union’s employees, determines and defines their wages, working conditions and their field of work in employment contracts. If a member resigns from roles of responsibility which they hold for the Union, they are obliged to hand in all documents related to their role. The Union Board is authorized to choose honorary members and to honour them with the Union’s golden badge. In those cases, approval by ¾ of Board members is needed. Honorary members are exempt from the payment of membership fees.
Art. 12
Board meetings shall, in general, be held once per month. The Chairman convenes and moderates Board meetings. The Chairman is obliged to convene a Board meeting if it is requested by at least four Board members. The Chairman signs the actions of the Union and ensures that all employees fulfil their obligations. The Chairman is responsible for the Union’s operations and ensures that its bylaws and rules are followed in every respect. Vice-chairmen shall in all respects assist the Chairman in their role and take over their obligations if the Chairman is unable to attend.
Art. 13
The Secretary is responsible for the Union’s journals being kept and for ensuring that all meeting minutes, amendments and the annual accounts are recorded in the journals. The Secretary signs the Union’s journals, together with the Chairman. The Union’s meetings can be audio recorded, but minutes shall nonetheless be taken of the meeting. The Secretary, together with the Chairman, is responsible for storing the Union’s documents and other documents in an organized manner.
Art. 14
The Treasurer keeps an overview of the Union’s finances and book-keeping, as further determined by the Board. The elected reviewers shall go over the Union’s resolutions and accounts for each fiscal year, which is the calendar year, and make remarks if needed.
B. Delegate Council
Art. 15
A Delegate Council shall operate within the Union, and it has the supreme power in the Union’s matters between Board meetings, unless otherwise is stated in the Union’s bylaws. The Union’s Board members sit in the Delegate Council, together with 115 Union members’ delegates. A complete Delegate Council has 130 members.
Art. 26 defines the election process for the Delegate Council.
The electoral term for the Delegate Council is two years and it starts on January 1st following an election. An election of 115 members’ delegates shall be held before the end of November every other year, in the same year as the Chairman is elected. The Union Board members serve as substitutes when delegates are unable to attend. When selecting a substitute, care should be taken that they work in the same or a comparable workplace as the absent delegate. A substitute shall be appointed to replace a delegate who has resigned from the council. All standing committees operating within the Union shall be elected by the Delegate Council, unless otherwise stated in these bylaws. The Delegate Council shall, in general, have meetings once per month in the period from October 1st until May 1st. Additionally, the Union Board may convene a meeting of the Council when they deem it necessary, or when at least ¼ of the Delegate Council requests a meeting in writing, stating the meeting’s topic. Meetings shall be convened in writing, and the invitation shall include the meeting agenda and be sent with a seven-day notice. A meeting can be convened by advertisement in the media or by phone-calls, with a shorter notice if necessary. The Chairman chairs meetings. The Delegate Council defines its work procedure and order within the allowance of these laws.
C. Professional groups
Art. 16
The Union Board is authorized, in consultation with the Delegate Council, to establish professional groups who work at matters of interests for the relevant group. The Board further defines the goals and work practices of those groups.
D. Union Delegates
Art. 17
The Board is authorized and obliged to appoint delegates in all workplaces that have five Union members or more, where the Union’s agreements with employers apply. Delegates shall be elected by Union members who work in the workplaces in question. According to national laws on trade Unions, the Board is authorized to appoint delegates in workplaces and to arrange industrial action if an election is not forthcoming. Delegates shall work according to the terms of reference given to them by the Board. Delegates shall oversee that the Union’s bylaws, resolutions and agreements are complied with in every respect. Union Delegates shall form a link between the leadership of the Union, the Union’s employees, and the workers who work in their workplaces. They have the right to assistance from the Board and employees in their duties. Otherwise, delegates’ work, rights and obligations are as defined in the Union’s bylaws and collective wage agreements.
E. The Negotiating Committee
Art. 18
A Negotiating Committee shall operate within the Union. The Committee includes the Board, but apart from that it shall be elected by the Delegate Council. The Chairman of the Negotiating Committee shall be the same as the Chairman of the Union. If ordinary members of the Union’s Negotiating Committee are unable to attend, the Board is authorized to select substitutes from the group of delegates. A list with the names of Negotiating Committee’s members shall be finalized no later than 14 weeks before collective wage agreements expire. The Negotiating Committee’s authorization to negotiate is revoked when the main collective wage agreements and workplace wage agreements have been approved. When appointing the negotiating committee, care should be taken that it consists of representatives from the Union’s departments and industries. The Negotiating Committee acts on behalf of the Union in the making of collective wage agreements. The Negotiating Committee is authorized to, among other things, put forward the Union’s demands, to plan for the arrangement of discussions to renew collective wage agreements, to make proposals for agreements, take part in the negotiations and break them off, to request the participation of a mediator in the negotiations, and to sign collective wage agreements. The Negotiating Committee is authorized:
a) To hand over to the Union Board the authorization to make a collective wage agreement and to sign it.
b) To delegate tasks by agreement in different industries and departments, and to make special collective wage agreements for each industry or for individual workplaces.
c) To call in any Union member to assist with its work.
d) To authorize a joint negotiating committee of more Unions or federations to negotiate on its behalf, in part or completely.
e) To call for a joint vote among the members of the Unions concerned, as the Committee deems necessary at any time, or as may be agreed on in a collective wage agreement.
f) To call off a work stoppage or to postpone an announced work stoppage, one time or more times, for up to 28 days combined, or to give the Union Board the authorization to do so.
When there is a vote in the Negotiating Committee, the simple majority rules. Decisions by the Negotiating Committee to give a joint negotiating committee the mandate to hold joint voting and to cancel or postpone work stoppages, are only legitimate and binding if they have been approved by ¾ of votes cast in a legitimate Negotiating Committee meeting. The Negotiating Committee is unauthorized to transfer to the joint negotiating committee its right to sign collective wage agreements and to make decisions about common elections about them. On meetings, decisions and other points regarding the Negotiating Committee’s role, the same rules apply as to the Delegate Council.
CHAPTER IV
GENERAL VOTES
Art. 19
General votes shall be held in the event of:
a) The election of a Board, reviewers of the accounts and the Delegate Council.
b) Work stoppages. Work stoppages are only intended to apply to specific groups of Union members or employees in a specific workplace, and a decision to implement a work stoppage can be taken based on the votes of those the work stoppage is intended to apply to.
c) A mediation proposal from the State Conciliation and Mediation Officer.
d) Matters on which the Union’s Delegate Council or a legitimate general members’ meetings approve of having a general vote. Such votes can only be held on matters which are presented in such a way that they can be answered with yes or no, or by choosing between two proposals. Clear ballots shall be prepared for the vote, so that voters need only to select yes or no, or to select one of two proposals.
e) When general votes are carried out, applicable regulations from the Icelandic Confederation of Labour shall be followed. Instead of a carrying out a general vote in a polling place, the Union Board is authorized to carry out a general, secret postal vote among Union members.
CHAPTER V
ELECTIONS COMMITTEE
Art. 20
The Elections Committee shall consist of five Union members. Four shall be chosen by the Delegate Council and the fifth shall be chosen by the Icelandic Confederation of Labour. That member shall also Chair the committee. The same number of substitutes shall be nominated by the respective parties. The Elections Committee shall be appointed in October for a term of two years. The Committee shall be elected in the same year as the Chairman. The role of the Elections Committee is to carry out elections and general votes according to the Union’s bylaws. The Elections Committee is responsible for printing ballots valid for elections and general votes on polling day, for postal votes, and for ensuring that elections are legitimately carried out and full secrecy regarding individual members’ votes. The committee is responsible for counting ballots after a vote, and for ruling in cases of disputable ballots.
The Elections Committee keeps a journal, and before a vote begins, the following shall be recorded in the journal:
a) When the committee received nominations and proposals.
b) Decisions regarding when to seal the ballot box.
c) The number of ballots.
At the end of a vote or election, the following shall be recorded in the journal:
a) How many members voted.
b) How many ballots were unused.
c) The results of the voting.
When the counting of the votes is finished, The Elections Committee shall deliver to the Chairman of the Union the journal, which shall be signed by the Elections Committee and the representatives of the list, or a copy of the vote outcome.
Art. 21
The Union Board shall list all members with voting rights in a special voter’s list. The voter’s list shall be available no later than one week before polling day. The deadline for appeal is until polling stations close. New members can join the Union until the polling station closes. Authorised representatives of candidates in the election of board members and delegates may have access to the voter’s list one month before polling day.
CHAPTER VI
ELECTIONS
A. Election of the Board and Reviewers of the Accounts
Art. 22
A Nomination Committee of five members shall operate within the Union. Three of the committee members shall be chosen by the Delegate Council, and two in a general members’ meeting. An equal number of substitutes shall be elected in the same way. Substitutes take a seat in the committee when the ordinary members are unable to attend. The committee shall be elected before October 10th, for a two-year period, in the same year as the Chairman. The committee shall commence their work no later than in November. The Chairman of the Union convenes the first committee meeting after the members are chosen. The committee organises its work and delegates tasks in its first meeting. It makes proposals for who should be on the Board and who should be reviewers of the accounts and presents its proposals to the Delegate Council for approval. If proposals come forward in a meeting of the Delegate Council for individuals not included in the proposals by the Selection Committee, the Delegate Council shall vote on who to include.
The Selection Committee shall submit final proposals to the Elections Committee no later than 14 days before election day. The list shall be marked with the letter A. Proposal A shall be available in the Union’s office and advertised to Union members eight days before the election commences. Other lists shall be submitted no later than seven days before the polling day. If only one list is submitted, an election is not needed.
When selecting Union members for roles of responsibility, care must be taken to ensure gender equality and equality between profession and industry.
Art. 23
A proposed electoral list must include support from 120 Union members. Written acknowledgement from candidates in the election shall be equivalent to recommendations. Individuals who have given written permission for their names to be included on one list cannot be named on other lists.
Art. 24
The election of a Board and reviewers of the accounts shall be done in a secret, written vote. It shall take place in elections which can last for up to two days, in accordance with the decision of the Elections Committee. The Elections Committee gives a Union member a ballot in the polling place, after ensuring that they are on the electoral register and marking their name. The voter casts their vote by writing, with a pencil, a cross next to the list they wish to vote for. A ballot is considered valid if it clearly shows who the voter intended to vote for, and if it contains no specific marks that confirm the identity of the voter. One person, nominated by the Elections Committee, shall be the polling officer. Each candidacy shall nominate two representatives to act on their behalf with the Elections Committee. They are permitted to be present during the counting. Campaigning is not permitted in or around polling places, nor is it permitted to make any proposals, appeals or encouragement regarding the election outside of the guidelines in the Union’s bylaws.
Art. 25
The Elections Committee seals the ballot box in the presence of representatives of the lists, after the Committee has made sure that they are empty. After a Union member has cast their vote, they shall insert their ballot into a sealed ballot box. An election can only last as long as the time advertised. Representatives for the electoral lists are always permitted to be present in the polling place. The Elections Committee is responsible for ensuring that the ballot boxes are stored with police between polling days if an election takes place over more than one day. The counting of votes shall take place as soon as polling closes. The Elections Committee shall announce the outcome from voting as soon as counting is finished. The outcome of elections shall be presented in the annual general meeting. The outcome from other general votes shall be presented in the next general members’ meeting after the vote is held.
B. Election of the Delegate Council
Art. 26
The Selection Committee proposes members to sit in the Delegate Council. The committee shall seek nominations from the Board and from Union members, and seek consensus on the composition of the list. When appointing members to the Delegate Council, care must be taken to ensure that it represents as many of the Union’s professional sectors as possible. The Selection Committee shall deliver their final proposals to the Elections Committee and the list shall be marked with the letter A. Proposal A shall be available in the Union’s office and shall be advertised eight days before the election commences. Other lists shall be delivered no later than seven days before the election day. If only one list is submitted, an election does not have to be carried out. Otherwise, the provisions from part A in Chapter 6 of this bylaw apply.
C. Election of the funds’ boards
Art. 27
The boards of the Union’s funds, other than the General Fund, shall consist of five individuals and two substitutes. Three ordinary members and two substitutes shall be elected by the Delegate Council and two members who will hold the position of Chairman and Vice-chairman shall be elected directly by the Union Board. The electoral term of boards of funds is two years. The boards of funds shall be elected in the last meeting of the Delegate Council and the last meeting of the Board before the annual general meeting each year, in the same year that the Chairman is elected. New boards take over after their election has been presented at the annual general meeting. The election of a representative for Gildi Pension Fund’s annual general meeting is conducted as defined in the pension fund’s regulations.
CHAPTER VII
MEETINGS
Art. 28
Annual general meeting
The Union’s annual general meeting shall be held no later than at the end of May each year. It shall be convened with an agenda and with at least seven days’ notice. It is legitimate if it has been legitimately convened.
The following agenda items are fixed in the annual general meeting:
a) The Board’s annual report.
b) The Union’s reviewed accounts are submitted.
c) Election results for Board, Delegate Council, boards of funds and the reviewers of the accounts, are presented.
d) Amendments to the bylaws, if any proposals have been submitted.
e) Deciding on the membership fee, if a change has been proposed.
f) Other Topics
An extra annual general meeting.
The Board is permitted to convene an extra annual general meeting, if deemed necessary.
Art. 29
General members’ meetings
The Union convenes general members’ meetings when the Board or the Delegate Council deem it necessary, but never less then quarterly in the period from October 1st until May 1st. A general members’ meeting must be held if at least 300 Union members request it in writing, stating the meeting’s topic. The Chairman appoints doorkeepers. General members’ meetings are legitimate if they have been convened with at least three days’ notice in at least one newspaper, with the national broadcasting service, or by letter. If necessary, for example in relation to labour disputes and collective wage agreements, meetings can be convened with a shorter notice than stated here above, but attention should be paid to convene them in the best possible way.
Art. 30
Meetings shall be moderated in the manner defined in the union’s meeting processes. In case of any doubt regarding the meeting processes, meetings can decide on each individual case. Otherwise, the meeting chairman acts as they find most suitable. Voting is used to determine matters in meetings, except when bylaws state otherwise. If a Union member requests a written vote in a general members’ meeting, the chairman is obliged to meet that wish.
CHAPTER VIII
FINANCES
Art. 31
Those are the Union’s funds:
General Fund, Recreational Fund, Jóhanna’s and Vilborg’s Fund, Sickness Benefits Fund, Educational Fund and Labour Dispute Fund
All the Union’s funds, apart from the General Fund, shall operate according to regulations approved in annual general meetings. Each fund’s regulations shall define the purpose of the fund, its sources of income, how its resources shall be used, the fund’s management, and other matters related to the fund. The Union’s funds shall be invested in a secure manner, in government bonds, government-guaranteed bonds, in banks or saving banks or bonds, secured in property investments, or in other ways deemed secure by the Union Board.
Art. 32
The Union’s income shall meet all its operation costs, such as housing costs, printing costs, employee wages and other costs, which arise as result of legitimate decisions of general members’ meetings, Delegate Council, departments or the Union Board.
Art. 33
If proposals regarding payouts from the fund are submitted in a general members’ meeting, they can only be voted on in that meeting if a majority of the Board approves of the proposal. The Board can also decide to postpone the matter for further inspection between meetings.
Art. 34
The Union’s accounts and finances must be reviewed by a legally-registered auditor of accounts. Accounts shall be submitted for the annual general meeting, signed by an auditor and the account reviewers, and they shall be available in the Union’s office for members to view seven days before the annual general meeting.
CHAPTER IX
AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS
Art. 35
Bylaws can only be amended in an annual general meeting if the meeting announcement states that law amendments are on the agenda and if the amendments have been discussed in a general members’ meeting at least one week before the annual general meeting. If individual union members would like to submit proposals for amendments to the bylaws, they shall be delivered to the Union Board not later than by the end of March each year. In order for an amendment to the bylaws to pass, it must be approved by 2/3 of the votes cast. Amendments to the bylaws will come into effect when the central committee of the Icelandic Confederation of Labour and the Board of the Icelandic Federation of General and Special Workers and the Federation of Icelandic Seamen have confirmed them.
Period of validity
These bylaws take effect on July 1st, 2008, after confirmation from the central committee of the Icelandic Confederation of Labour and the Board of the Icelandic Federation of General and Special Workers.
A preliminary provision due to reduction of members in the Efling-Trade Union’s Board
The reduction of Board members shall become effective in steps, so that in the annual general meeting of 2009, seven board members shall be elected for a two-year term, and seven ordinary members and a Chairman in the annual general meeting of 2010. In the operating year 2009-2010, board members will be 16, and then 15 from the annual general meeting of 2010.
Unification of Efling-Trade Union and Boðinn
A merger agreement and a preliminary legal provision regarding the unification of Boðinn – Trade and Seaman’s Union (Verkaðlýðs- og sjómannafélagið Boðinn), and Efling-Trade Union, are based on the unions’ resolutions; on the one hand, a general vote held within Boðinn – Trade and Seaman’s Union between April 7th and 11th, 2008, and on the other hand, a resolution from Efling’s annual general meeting on April 23rd, 2008.
Agreement regarding the unions’ merger
I.Boðinn – Trade and Seaman’s Union will merge with Efling-Trade Union on January 1st, 2009, and Efling-Trade Union will then take over all the rights and responsibilities, assets and debt, of Boðinn – Trade and Seaman’s Union. From January 1st, 2009, and onwards Boðinn’s and Efling-Trade Union’s areas of coverage will be joined. From the same point in time, Efling will be open for all wage earners in the professions within Boðinn’s agreement area, and members of Boðinn will be full members of Efling-Trade Union from that time on.
II.From January 1st, 2009, all fees will be collected by Gildi Pension Fund; membership fees, sickness benefits fund and recreational fund fees, rehabilitation fees and vocational education fees. Pension premiums are paid to Gildi Pension Fund. Those members who will become former members of Boðinn from January 1st, 2009, have the option to continue their membership with Festa Pension Fund.
III.A joint meeting of the Boards and Councils of Delegates on the subject of Boðinn’s merger to Efling-Trade Union, will be held in December 2008. In the meeting, bylaws with amendments and preliminary provisions regarding the unification, from the Union’s annual general meetings, will be approved.
IV.It will be authorized, according to Art. 16 in Efling’s bylaws, to establish a professional group in Boðinn’s area of coverage, which will be of assistance to the Union’s office. A preliminary provision due to the merger between Efling-Trade Union and Boðinn
V.From the merger on January 1st, 2009, and onwards, two board members, and two substitutes, from Boðinn – Trade and Seaman’s Union, will take a seat in the Board of Efling-Trade Union, until Efling-Trade Union’s 2010 annual general meeting.
VI.From the merger on January 1st, 2009, and onwards, the Delegate Council from Efling-Trade Union and Boðinn – Trade and Seaman’s Union will be joined.
VII.From January 1st, 2009, and onwards, Boðinn – Trade and Seaman’s Union shall nominate one ordinary member and one substitute for the boards of Efling’s funds, and this arrangement will be valid until the next election for the boards of Efling’s funds, in 2010. The same applies to the Elections Committee and the Selection Committee.
A record of legal amendments from 1988
The bylaws were approved in the annual general meeting of Dagsbrún and Framsókn-Trade Union (Framsókn-stéttarfélag) on May 28th, 1998, approved in a follow-up annual general meeting of Sókn – Employee Association (Starfsmannafélagið Sókn) on November 3rd, 1998, and approved in the annual general meeting of the Association of Restaurant Employees (Félag starfsfólks í veitingahúsum) on May 28th, 1998. The bylaws were published in December 1998, as the bylaws of a unified Trade Union from the above-mentioned Unions, and approved in the inaugural meeting on December 5th, 1998.
The bylaws were approved with some amendments due to the unification with Iðja – Association of Factory Workers (Iðja, félag verksmiðjufólk), in the follow-up annual general meeting of Efling-Trade Union, on October 5th, 1999.
A general members’ meeting within Iðja – Association of Factory Workers, approved the bylaws on November 24th, 1999.
The amended bylaws were published in December 1999.
Approved with amendments in the 2000 annual general meeting.
Approved with amendments in Efling’s annual general meeting on May 10th, 2001.
Approved with amendments in Efling’s annual general meeting on April 30th, 2002.
Approved with amendments and preliminary provisions in an annual general meeting 29.04.2003.
Changes were presented in Efling’s Delegate Council’s meeting / general member’s meeting on April 16th, 2008.
Approved with amendments and preliminary provisions in an annual general meeting 23.04.2008.
THIS IS A TRANSLATION ONLY, IN MATTERS OF DISPUTE, PLEASE REFER TO THE ORIGINAL TEXT IN ICELANDIC