Victory for striking workers in the Faroe Islands

Hereby we publish a resume of an article published by Roede Fane. All the translations of excerpts of the article are unofficial.

Roede Fane has reported on the victory of the general strike in Faroe Islands: “After almost a full month of general strike, the protracted mass strike was called off last month after achieving a major victory.” We have previously reported on this mass strike, in which a 10 per cent of the population joined the strike, completely blocking the islands.

Many workers from the Faroese trade unions joined the strike and demanded a 13-15 per cent wage increase. Workers from almost all sectors were participating: fish factories, cleaners, bus drivers, healthcare workers, dock workers, etc.

As Roede Fane explains, they “demanded a wage increase to compensate the increasing inflation since 2020. This at a time when many in the Faroe Islands are struggling to even pay rent, while the ruling classes have made record profits.”

The result of this protracted strike has been a victory for the Faroese working class, the strike achieved an increase in wages of 13 percent over two years. Even though it has been a historical strike, Roede Fane reports that “the strike has received minimal coverage in bourgeois press media in Denmark.”

But this could not hide the mass effects of the struggle, which has even overcame the sinister role of the union bureaucrats at the leadership, which wanted to divide the working class, attempted to sabotage the working class struggle trying to drive it to the corporative agreement system which rules in the country, “the so-called Danish model.”

As it is reported, “The strike also reveals the exploitative conditions in the Faroe Islands” which have been challenged by the Faroese workers, who have dealt a blow to the Danish imperialist bourgeoisie and showed the strength achieved by the unity of workers.