Timarit Eflingar

The study itself is divided into two parts; on one hand the wellbeing and outlook of tourism company owners in Hornafjörður and on the other, the wellbeing, outlook and rights of foreign workers of the same companies. Arndís was raised in Hornafjörður and knows the work environment well as she previously worked in tourism there at the beginning of her career. She finds it interesting to do this type of research in a small community like Hornafjörður, a community where everybody knows each other and which she is a part of. However, the results of the studies were illuminating in that out of twenty interviews of foreign workers she knew only one of them. Many of these same interviewees stated they felt socially isolated and separated from the locals. They stated that both the long work hours and many working days which characterized the lives of foreign workers in tourism before the COVID-19 pandemic meant that there was little to no time for other participation within society. Some stat- ed that the tourism industry itself also had an exclusionary effect. The environment is closed and multinational, resulting in little access to Icelandic society within the workplace and almost no opportunities to learn Icelandic as no staff spoke the language. Several interviewees stated that the COVID-19 pandemic created conditions for better integration within the community. Workers were able to research and pursue their hobbies and communicate more with Icelanders in a way that was not possible before. Tourism industry built on inequality Among workers interviewed by Arndís, those who had the longest careers within the tourism industry in Iceland were very critical of the industry as a whole. Some workers said that the tourism industry was based on inequality and driven by inequality. They described the wage gap and the need to constantly fight for the same salary as an Icelander in the same position got. They criticized wage secrecy and stated managers behaved much worse towards foreign workers. The results of this study are divided into three sub-sectors of the tourism industry: restaurants, accomodations and enter- tainment. There are considerable differences in the experience of workers according to each sub-sector. Restaurant workers expressed the most negative experiences and entertainment workers expressed the most positive experiences. Restau- rant workers almost universally felt that their rights had been violated and all restaurant workers interviewed expressed that their wages were inadequete. The atmosphere in the restaurant industry is best illustrated by the fact that most interviewees wanted to change careers and everybody want- ed to leave their workplace – if they had not already done so. COVID-19 not the cause of problems Arndís says that although she was researching the worker‘s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that the pandemic is not the cause of all of the issues revealed by the study. The situation created by the pandemic uncovered problems that already existed in the industry. The rights of these foreign workers had never been tested like this before and many did not realize they were in trouble until they lost their jobs. However it is clearly apparent that many communi- cation difficulties can be directly attributed to the increased despair and uncertainty due to the pandemic. These commu- nication difficulties have manifested in everything from indif- ference to pure oppression. Commercial housing All but one of the workers interviewed by Arndís lived in commercial housing. Workers often considered themselves lucky to have housing provided by an employer, but few were informed of what kind of rights they had, such as rent compensation and lease agreements. Arndís says that for some this was a concern in itself. Several of her interviewees witnessed their colleagues evicted from employers‘ premises without notice, others lived through this scenario themselves. One interviewee who lost both his job and home described the situation as follows: I was sure that this was illegal, they cannot make you homeless intentionally, especially in circumstances where the world is locking down [...]. It was more of a “You are a problem now. You are this making–money machine for certain months”. They literally didn‘t care, because we even offered to pay the rent, normal rent and we said “We will buy our own food, so you don’t have to pay us anything. You don’t have to contribute to our being there anything, can we just stay?” And they said no. Arndís states that connecting housing and employment is a double-edged sword. During the pandemic it can be particu- larly unlucky to live in a small commercial housing arrange- “You are a problem now” On the wellbeing, outlook and rights of foreign employees working at tourism companies in Hornafjörður Arndís Ósk Magnúsdóttir will participate in the symposium Discrimination in the labor market , organised by Efling, SGS and ASÍ. She will discuss the findings of a new study regarding the wellbeing, outlook and rights of foreign employees at tourism companies in Hornafjöður during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A journalist from Efling Magazine met with Arndís just before Christmas and spoke with her about this study and its results. 14 TÍMARIT EFLINGAR-STÉTTARFÉLAGS