We Are Foreign and We Feel Welcome in Efling Union Barbara Sawka, Ian McDonald, Innocentia Fiati Fridgeirsson, Karla Barralaga Ocón og Sæþór Benjamín Randalsson skrifa 23. apríl 2022 12:31 We the undersigned are all born outside of Iceland. What we also have in common is that we are all doing low wage jobs and are therefore members of Efling Union. We have all experienced discrimination and xenophobia in Iceland. We speak with accents and some of us are not white, and therefore we get asked questions like "hvaðan ertu?" and our most used phrase for Icelanders is "talarðu ensku?". Some of us have experienced much worse abuse and disrespect. We have often been made to feel like second class citizens. One place where we haven't felt discrimination, however, is Efling Union. As active Efling members, we are now used to going to union events, meetings and rallies where we see faces and hear languages that make us feel that we are among fellow immigrants. We have noticed and appreciated changes like making the Efling website available in English and Polish, having live English interpretation at events, conducting parts of union rep courses in English, and choosing members of foreign origin for important roles of responsibility in the union. All of this has made us feel welcome and included, much more so than in most other places in Icelandic society. These changes did not come out of thin air. They were part of the program of the B-list headed by Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir in 2018 and again in 2022, a program that has set the mark high and fought every step of the way for fulfilling its promises. Sólveig has time and again insisted on inclusion and respect for foreign Efling members. Therefore, we find it truly shocking to be now witnessing claims that Sólveig is prejudiced against foreigners. It needs to be said honestly that this is a cynical lie, fabricated by enemies who are desperately looking for ways to damage Sólveig and the B-list. Of course we still do not have full equality and inclusion for foreign workers in Iceland, and even Efling Union can do better. We, however, are not going to let opportunists misrepresent the very real positive changes that have been made in our union towards visibility, power, and respect for immigrants. Our message to those who sling false accusations of this kind are: Direct your anger to the real xenophobes in Iceland. Authors are members of Efling Union. Viltu birta grein á Vísi? Sendu okkur póst. Senda grein Ólga innan Eflingar Stéttarfélög Mest lesið Ríkisfyrirtæki sem virðir ekki æðsta valdið Bryndís Haraldsdóttir Skoðun Neikvæðni í garð sjávarútvegs á Íslandi – orsakir og afleiðingar Kristín Þórarinsdóttir Skoðun Lygin lekur niður á hökuna Jón Daníelsson Skoðun Líflínan Ingibjörg Isaksen Skoðun D-vítamín mín besta forvörn Auður Elisabet Jóhannsdóttir Skoðun Hvað skiptir okkur mestu máli? Dóra Guðrún Guðmundsdóttir Skoðun Við vitum alveg upphafið Guðný Níelsen Skoðun Leiðréttingin leiðrétt Sigurgeir Brynjar Kristgeirsson Skoðun Ríkisstofnun rassskellt Björn Ólafsson Skoðun Níðingsverk Jón Daníelsson Skoðun Skoðun Skoðun Lygin lekur niður á hökuna Jón Daníelsson skrifar Skoðun Líflínan Ingibjörg Isaksen skrifar Skoðun Ríkisfyrirtæki sem virðir ekki æðsta valdið Bryndís Haraldsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Neikvæðni í garð sjávarútvegs á Íslandi – orsakir og afleiðingar Kristín Þórarinsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Við erum hafið Guillaume Bazard skrifar Skoðun Deja Vu Sverrir Agnarsson skrifar Skoðun Mun mannkynið lifa af gervigreindina? Björgmundur Örn Guðmundsson skrifar Skoðun Ríkisstofnun rassskellt Björn Ólafsson skrifar Skoðun Gjaldfrjálsar skólamáltíðir – margþættur ávinningur Ludvig Guðmundsson,Guðrún E. Gunnarsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Orkuöflun á eyjaklösum - Vestmannaeyjar og Orkneyjar Gísli Stefánsson skrifar Skoðun Hugrekki getur af sér hugrekki Þorbjörg Þorvaldsdóttir skrifar Skoðun D-vítamín mín besta forvörn Auður Elisabet Jóhannsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Húmanisminn í kærleikanum og kærleikurinn í húmanismanum Arndís Anna Kristínardóttir Gunnarsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Helför gyðinga gegn íbúum Palestínu Birgir Dýrfjörð skrifar Skoðun Leiðréttingin leiðrétt Sigurgeir Brynjar Kristgeirsson skrifar Skoðun Hvað skiptir okkur mestu máli? Dóra Guðrún Guðmundsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Mikilvægt skref til sáttar Guðmundur Ari Sigurjónsson skrifar Skoðun Staðið með þjóðinni Hanna Katrín Friðriksson skrifar Skoðun Við vitum alveg upphafið Guðný Níelsen skrifar Skoðun Betri nýting á tíma og fjármunum Reykjavíkurborgar 3/3 Magnea Gná Jóhannsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Varalitur á skattagrísinum Helgi Brynjarsson skrifar Skoðun Við eigum ekki efni á vonleysi né uppgjöf Magnús Magnússon skrifar Skoðun Hingað og ekki lengra Kolbrún Áslaugar Baldursdóttir skrifar Skoðun Hagsmunir heildarinnar - Kafli eitt: Tómlæti Íslendinga Hannes Örn Blandon skrifar Skoðun Þegar líða fer að jólum Ísak Hilmarsson skrifar Skoðun Svansvottaðar íbúðir – fjárfesting í lífsgæðum Bergþóra Góa Kvaran skrifar Skoðun D-vítamín mín besta forvörn Auður Elisabet Jóhannsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Hættulegt tal Sjálfstæðisflokksins og Viðskiptaráðs Guðni Freyr Öfjörð skrifar Skoðun Þetta má ekki gerast aftur! - Álag á útsvar Sveinn Ægir Birgisson skrifar Skoðun Meistaragráða í lífsreynslu Elín Ebba Ásmundsdóttir skrifar Sjá meira
We the undersigned are all born outside of Iceland. What we also have in common is that we are all doing low wage jobs and are therefore members of Efling Union. We have all experienced discrimination and xenophobia in Iceland. We speak with accents and some of us are not white, and therefore we get asked questions like "hvaðan ertu?" and our most used phrase for Icelanders is "talarðu ensku?". Some of us have experienced much worse abuse and disrespect. We have often been made to feel like second class citizens. One place where we haven't felt discrimination, however, is Efling Union. As active Efling members, we are now used to going to union events, meetings and rallies where we see faces and hear languages that make us feel that we are among fellow immigrants. We have noticed and appreciated changes like making the Efling website available in English and Polish, having live English interpretation at events, conducting parts of union rep courses in English, and choosing members of foreign origin for important roles of responsibility in the union. All of this has made us feel welcome and included, much more so than in most other places in Icelandic society. These changes did not come out of thin air. They were part of the program of the B-list headed by Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir in 2018 and again in 2022, a program that has set the mark high and fought every step of the way for fulfilling its promises. Sólveig has time and again insisted on inclusion and respect for foreign Efling members. Therefore, we find it truly shocking to be now witnessing claims that Sólveig is prejudiced against foreigners. It needs to be said honestly that this is a cynical lie, fabricated by enemies who are desperately looking for ways to damage Sólveig and the B-list. Of course we still do not have full equality and inclusion for foreign workers in Iceland, and even Efling Union can do better. We, however, are not going to let opportunists misrepresent the very real positive changes that have been made in our union towards visibility, power, and respect for immigrants. Our message to those who sling false accusations of this kind are: Direct your anger to the real xenophobes in Iceland. Authors are members of Efling Union.
Skoðun Neikvæðni í garð sjávarútvegs á Íslandi – orsakir og afleiðingar Kristín Þórarinsdóttir skrifar
Skoðun Gjaldfrjálsar skólamáltíðir – margþættur ávinningur Ludvig Guðmundsson,Guðrún E. Gunnarsdóttir skrifar
Skoðun Húmanisminn í kærleikanum og kærleikurinn í húmanismanum Arndís Anna Kristínardóttir Gunnarsdóttir skrifar