My presence here means that I earned it, so you have to know that I gained this position mainly by being a labour organiser during the strikes in 2019.

We need to talk about the sacred word–“strike”.

//But first – a little activity: please raise your hands:

How many of you are risking their jobs to be here today?

It’s hard to believe, but not everybody is allowed to be here today. It is an Icelandic tradition to celebrate Kvennafrí, but many people in basic jobs won’t get “paid leave” today. In 2018 I was watching happy crowds gathering on Arnarhól while I was changing bedsheets in a hotel nearby. It wasn’t my celebration at all. Seven years later, still, many of us are missing.

So I want to greet you on the anniversary of one of the greatest strikes in modern history of Europe – Icelandic women’s strike 1975. The 1975 Women’s Strike is still a vivid sign of female solidarity, exceptional grassroots organising, inclusion, memorable visual representation, legendary songs, and storytelling that made this day unforgettable around the world.

The history of Kvennaverkfall is an international symbol of solidarity and strength that led so many of us here in search of safety. In Iceland, we can feel so far away from the world led by bullies that we observe every day through our small screens.

February 2022 Ukraine, October 2023 Gaza.

The only remedy for bullies is a strong community, solidarity that makes us stick together, solidarity that makes us protect

each other.

Here comes my call for action: If you want to exercise your readiness for a strike action, stand in solidarity with people who spend many months trying to improve their working conditions, talking with their coworkers, who voted for a strike action, who made demands, who negotiated with their employers. Support strikes that are organized in your kids’ schools, kindergartens, and in the private sector. Make a collective, and individual pressure on people responsible for things that we cannot live without: housing, health care, education.

Let’s start organizing today, so next year we can celebrate the anniversary of Kvennaverkfall 1975 together with all of the women who would lose their jobs if they came here today.