Tens of thousands of women and nonbinary people in Iceland were expected to participate on Tuesday in a one-day strike, which organizers called the country’s largest effort to protest workplace inequality in nearly five decades.
Iceland is a global leader in gender equality but still has a long way to go, said Freyja Steingrímsdóttir, a spokeswoman for the Icelandic Federation of Public Workers, the country’s largest federation of public worker unions.
“Iceland is often viewed as some sort of equality paradise,” Ms. Steingrímsdóttir, an organizer of the strike, said.
“If we’re going to live up to that name, we need to move forward and really be the best we can be — and we’re not stopping until full gender equality is reached.”Organizers urged women and nonbinary people to stop all work on Tuesday, including household errands and child care.
Even Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir said she would take part, telling local news media that she would not call a cabinet meeting and that she expected other women in the cabinet to strike.
Persons:
Freyja Steingrímsdóttir, Ms, Steingrímsdóttir, Katrín Jakobsdóttir
Organizations:
Icelandic Federation of Public Workers, ”
Locations:
Iceland