Raise your hand if you're risking your job being here today

Photos by Bjørn Penk and Kvennaár 2025

October 24th 2025 marked a 50 year anniversary of Iceland's first women's strike, a watershed moment in the history of women's liberation in this country. On this day,  women across the country walked out of their jobs as they did half a century ago, many gathering Arnarhóll in down-town Reykjavík.

East of Moon's lab member Anna Marjankowska was invited by the organisers to address the crowd of 50.000. Drawing on her experiences as a labour organiser and worker of foreign origin, Anna urged solidarity with the section of women who are not able to walk out of their jobs without repercussions, and to build solidarity with women fighting for better working conditions and making demands for better living conditions.

The full version of her speech is shared below in English, the original Icelandic as well as Polish.

English

I have three minutes to share my thoughts with you as a woman of foreign origin living in Iceland.

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?
(pause)

Okay.

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.

Íslenska

Ég hef þrjár mínútur til að deila með ykkur hugsunum mínum sem kona af erlendum uppruna búsett á Íslandi.
Það að ég sé hér í dag þýðir að ég hef áunnið mér rétt til þess. Ástæða þess er þátttaka mín í verkalýðsbaráttu og aðkoma að skipulagningu verkfalla 2019.

Við þurfum að tala um hið mikilvæga hugtak: „verkfall.“

//Við skulum byrja á smá æfingu: Lyftið upp hönd ef þið eigið í hættu á að missa starf ykkar með því að vera hér í dag?
(pása)

OK.

Það er erfitt að trúa því, en það geta ekki öll verið með okkur hér í dag. Kvennafrí er íslensk hefð, en mörg geta ekki tekið þátt þar sem þau fá ekki greidd laun ef þau leggja niður störf. Í Kvennafríi 2018 horfði ég á glaðværan hóp safnast saman á Arnarhóli á meðan ég var að skipta á rúmum á hóteli rétt hjá. Ég upplifði ekki að konur eins og ég væru hluti af þessari baráttu. Sjö árum síðar, þá geta mörg okkar ekki tekið þátt.

Ég vil skora á ykkur á 50 ára afmæli eins stærsta verkfalls í nútímasögu Evrópu – Kvennaverkfallsins 1975.

Kvennaverkfallið 1975 er táknmynd kvennasamstöðu, framúrskarandi grasrótarstarfs, inngildingu, sterku myndmáli, frábærrar tónlistar og frásagna sem hafa gert þennan dag ógleymanlegan um allan heim. Saga Kvennaverkfallsins er alþjóðlegt tákn um samstöðu og styrk sem hefur leitt svo mörg okkar hingað til Íslands í leit að öryggi.

Hér líður okkur eins og við séum langt frá löndum sem er stýrt af frekum körlum, sem troða sér inn á skjáina okkar á hverjum degi.

Febrúar 2022 – Úkraína. Október 2023 – Gaza.

Eina móteitrið er sterkt samfélag og samstaða sem þjappar okkur saman og fær okkur til að standa hvert með öðru.

Ákall mitt til ykkar: Ef þið viljið styðja verkfallsbaráttu launafólks, þá er það gert með því að standa með fólki sem eyðir mánuðum saman í þrotlausa baráttu fyrir bættum kjörum og vinnuskilyrðum. Styðjið verkföll sem eru skipulögð í skólum barna ykkar og í einkafyrirtækjum. Tökum höndum saman og þrýstum hvert og eitt á þau sem völdin hafa til að tryggja grundvallar réttindi sem við getum ekki lifað án, eins og húsnæði á viðráðanlegu verði, heilbrigðisþjónustu og menntun.

Byrjum að skipuleggja okkur í dag, svo við getum á næsta ári haldið upp á afmæli Kvennafrís með öllum þeim komum sem myndu missa vinnuna ef þær kæmu hingað í dag.

Polski

Mam trzy minuty żeby podzielić się swoimi przemyśleniami jako kobieta obcego pochodzenia mieszkająca na Islandii.
Musiałam czymś zasłużyć na moją obecność na tej scenie, ta pozycja wynika głównie z mojej pracy jako organizatorka związkowa w trakcie strajków w 2019.

Musimy porozmawiać o świętym słowo “strajk”.

Ale wcześniej krótkie pytanie:

Które z Was ryzykują utratę pracy będąc tutaj dzisiaj?
(chwila ciszy)

Dobrze.

Chciałabym więc Was powitać na rocznicy jednego z najwspanialszych strajków we współczesnej historii Europy - Islandzkim strajku kobiet 1975. Strajk z 1975 jest wciąż żywym symbolem kobiecej solidarności, wybitnego, oddolnego organizowania, otwartości i włączania, niezapomnianej wizualnej reprezentacji, legendarnych piosenek i opowiadania historii, które sprawiło, że historia tego dnia obiegła cały świat.

Historia Kvennavennaverkfall’u jest międzynarodowym symbolem solidarności i siły, która ściągnęła tutaj tak wiele z nas, również w poszukiwaniu bezpieczniejszego miejsca.
W Islandii możemy poczuć, że jesteśmy bardzo daleko od świata rządzonego przez dręczycieli, który obserwujemy każdego dnia przez nasze małe ekrany.

Luty 2022 – Ukraina. Październik 2023 – Gaza.

Jedynym lekarstwem na tyranię jest silna wspólnota. Solidarność, która sprawia, że trzymamy się razem. Solidarność, która sprawia, że dbamy o siebie nawzajem.

I tu następuje moje wezwanie do działania: Jeśli chcecie ćwiczyć swoją gotowość do strajku – okażcie solidarność z osobami,
które miesiącami walczą o poprawę swoich warunków pracy. Z tymi, którzy rozmawiają ze współpracownikami, głosują za strajkiem, negocjują, stawiają postulaty. Wspierajcie strajki w szkołach i przedszkolach waszych dzieci, i w sektorze prywatnym. Wywierajcie kolektywną i indywidualną presję na tych, którzy odpowiadają za to, bez czego nie da się żyć: mieszkania, opiekę zdrowotną, edukację.

Zacznijmy organizować się już dziś, żeby w przyszłym roku świętować rocznicę Kvennaverkfall 1975 razem, również z kobietami, które dziś, za swoją obecność tutaj, straciłyby pracę.