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 Gerir háskólanám þig að grunnskólakennara? Davíð Már Sigurðsson Skoðun Kirkjuklukkur hringja Bjarni Karlsson Skoðun „Er allt í lagi?“ Olga Björt Þórðardóttir Skoðun Svargrein: Ísland á víst að íhuga aðild að ESB Ágúst Ólafur Ágústsson Skoðun Fordómar gagnvart hinsegin fólki – Reynslusaga Geir Gunnar Markússon Skoðun Sumarfríinu aflýst Sigurður Helgi Pálmason Skoðun Göngum í Haag hópinn Þórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir Skoðun Stríð skapar ekki frið Sanna Magdalena Mörtudóttir Skoðun Einmanaleiki: Skortir þig tengsl við þig eða aðra? Sigrún Þóra Sveinsdóttir Skoðun Úr skotgröfum í netkerfin: Netárásir á innviði Vesturlanda Ýmir Vigfússon Skoðun Skoðun Skoðun Einmanaleiki: Skortir þig tengsl við þig eða aðra? Sigrún Þóra Sveinsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Svargrein: Ísland á víst að íhuga aðild að ESB Ágúst Ólafur Ágústsson skrifar Skoðun Fjölbreytni í endurhæfingu skiptir máli Hólmfríður Einarsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Sumarfríinu aflýst Sigurður Helgi Pálmason skrifar Skoðun Úr skotgröfum í netkerfin: Netárásir á innviði Vesturlanda Ýmir Vigfússon skrifar Skoðun Fordómar gagnvart hinsegin fólki – Reynslusaga Geir Gunnar Markússon skrifar Skoðun „Er allt í lagi?“ Olga Björt Þórðardóttir skrifar Skoðun Göngum í Haag hópinn Þórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Kirkjuklukkur hringja Bjarni Karlsson skrifar Skoðun Gerir háskólanám þig að grunnskólakennara? Davíð Már Sigurðsson skrifar Skoðun Stríð skapar ekki frið Sanna Magdalena Mörtudóttir skrifar Skoðun Íslenska stóðhryssan og Evrópa Hallgerður Ljósynja Hauksdóttir skrifar Skoðun Hvammsvirkjun – Skyldur ráðherra og réttur samfélagsins Eggert Valur Guðmundsson skrifar Skoðun Norska leiðin er fasismi Jón Frímann Jónsson skrifar Skoðun Um mýkt, menntun og von Sigurður Árni Reynisson skrifar Skoðun Höfum alla burði til þess Hjörtur J. Guðmundsson skrifar Skoðun Tímabær rannsókn dómsmálaráðuneytisins Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson skrifar Skoðun Umsókn krefst ákvörðunar – ekki ákalls Erna Bjarnadóttir skrifar Skoðun Hjálp, barnið mitt spilar Roblox! Kristín Magnúsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Líkindi með guðstrú og djöflatrú Gunnar Björgvinsson skrifar Skoðun Ævinlega þakkláti flóttamaðurinn Zeljka Kristín Klobucar skrifar Skoðun Vér vesalingar Ingólfur Sverrisson skrifar Skoðun Leikrit Landsvirkjunar Snæbjörn Guðmundsson skrifar Skoðun Við þurfum ekki að loka landinu – við þurfum að opna augun Þorbjörg Sigríður Gunnlaugsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Svona eða hinsegin, hvert okkar verður næst? Unnar Geir Unnarsson skrifar Skoðun Reynisfjara og mannréttindasáttmáli Evrópu Róbert R. Spanó skrifar Skoðun Að hlúa að foreldrum: Forvörn sem skiptir máli Áróra Huld Bjarnadóttir skrifar Skoðun Ákall til íslenskra stjórnmálamanna Magnús Árni Skjöld Magnússon skrifar Skoðun Þurfum við virkilega „leyniþjónustu”? Helen Ólafsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Byrjað á öfugum enda! Hjálmtýr Heiðdal 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 Við þurfum ekki að loka landinu – við þurfum að opna augun Þorbjörg Sigríður Gunnlaugsdóttir skrifar