Date of birth
8 May 1971
Area of operation
Reykjavík and environs
Workplace, job title and education
I work at Tæki.is, where I do accounting, along with invoicing and equipment rental. Before that, I worked at AD Travel, also as a bookkeeper, along with other occasional tasks. I also worked at Íshestar for several years and before that, at Air Atlanta for 15 years.
I attended Fjölbrautaskólinn í Breiðholti, but I also studied at Promennt and then at the Continuing Education of the University of Iceland.
Email
harpasaev@gmail.com
Experience in community engagement
In the years 2014–2016, I sat on the Board of VR, after that as an alternate for one year and then again on the Board from 2017–2023. I have been Vice-Chairman and Secretary of the Board. I took a year off from Board duties but am ready to return. I was elected to ASÍ’s Central Board in October 2018 and was Chairman of the Equality and Labour Market Committee within ASÍ. During these years, I have gained considerable experience and a good insight into the overall activities of VR and what the union is about. I have sat on various committees for VR during the time I have been a member, including the Holiday Pay Committee, and holiday pay issues are something I am very interested in. I have also been a member of the Wage Committee, the Labour Dispute Fund, the Legal Committee, the Compensation Committee, as well as the Appointing Committee due to my position on the Board of the Commercial Employees’ Pension Fund.
Main focuses
If I am elected to the Board of VR, I will continue to protect the basic rights of the members, e.g. collective wage agreements, vacation rights and strengthening the Sick Pay Fund and the Vocational Training Fund. I would also like to emphasise the members’ holiday areas, as well as better introduce members to the rights that come with such a strong and powerful union as VR. The development of the members’ holiday areas has been very good, but there is room for improvement. Another thing that I have fought for since I was elected and took a seat on the Holiday Pay Committee is the permission to bring pets to our holiday homes, and the number of houses that allow pets has been increased.
Article from candidate
My name is Harpa Sævarsdóttir, I am running in the upcoming VR board members elections this year after taking 1 year off. I was first elected to the board of VR for the term of 2014-2016 then I was a reserve board member for one year and then I was elected again to the board in the year 2017 until 2023. In October 2018 I was elected to the central committee of the ASI where I hold the position of chairman of the Equality and employment sub committee within ASI. During all this time I have gained a great deal of knowledge and understanding of various issues concerning the struggle for improved salaries and workers’ rights.
As you all may know, we at VR have many holiday cottages all around the country which are available to members. All through my service as a board member at VR, I have been on the holiday committee. I am very interested in the holiday cottages affairs which we have done well improving over the years. Among issues that have been improved, are the increased acceptance of members bringing their pets to the cottages.
In addition to being on the holiday committee I have also been on the legal committee, salary committee, workers dispute committee and various other committees. I served as the chairman of the pension fund board members selection committee. Having served on all these different committees has given me vast experience and a very good insight into workers rights issues which our great union VR stands for and the good things it does for us all as members. I would very much like to continue working towards improving the rights and wages of our members as well as equality and fairness for all.
As we all know, we still find ourselves in an environment where inequality of many variants is an ongoing issue unresolved. It is heartbreaking that we still need to fight for equal pay for women, the gender pay gap issue is one that we as a society, must eradicate once and for all. In many cases there are young people and people of foreign origins who have not been informed of their rights which makes them more vulnerable to misuse in their work environment. For this reason, I would like to make a special effort to inform VR members of their rights they are entitled to such as mandatory employment contracts, work hours and sick days to name a few issues.
It is very important for an employee to know their basic rights you can learn more about your right on the VR website under my pages. I hope you will all use your right to vote in the upcoming elections as your vote matter and I hope I will get your vote and support.
If you need any assistance to vote or if you have any other questions, you can send me email on harpasaev@gmail.com