Iceland: Police call in sick in suspected strike

Hundreds of police officers joined a protest march in Reykjavik along with other civil servants on Thursday

Police officers in Iceland have called in sick en masse in what is thought to be the second unofficial strike over pay this month.

A week after some police stations had to close because of the number of absences, Icelanders were warned again on Friday that forces had depleted numbers due to "illness", the Visir news website reports. Reykjavik's police force said "many" officers were not at work and asked for "understanding and patience" from the public. The action coincided with a 48-hour strike by more than 3,500 civil servants, who are also protesting over pay.

As in many countries, Iceland's police have no legal right to strike, and the government has warned that it will take "appropriate legal action" against officers found to be breaking the law. On Thursday, about 300 officers - almost half of the country's police force - joined other public sector workers on a march to parliament, according to the Morgunbladid newspaper.

A similar turn of events occurred in Rome on New Year's Eve in 2014, when more than 80% of the 1,000 local police officers due to be at work called in sick. The force had been at loggerheads with the city government for months over working practices and pay.

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