10 October, 2011
The Sixth Ordinary Congress of the Norwegian union Fellesforbundet is underway in Oslo with 465 delegates attending. The quadrennial Congress began on 7 October under the banner “Organising for Welfare and Wealth Creation,” and concludes with votes on a host of resolutions on 12 October.
On the opening day, delegates approved a transfer of 7.5 million kroner (€1 million) to the youth wing of Norway’s Labour Party to rebuild Utøya Island.
Deeded to the youth wing by Norwegian national labour centre LO in the 1980s, Utøya is the fateful place where on 22 July a racially motivated person killed 69 mostly young progressive Norwegians. In 2010, Fellesforbundet sold two summer camps in the Nordic nation and delegates moved to donate the proceeds from that to rebuild Utøya. LO Norway is trying to raise at least 15 million kroner to remake the island to reflect the inclusiveness of traditional Norwegian values.
Arve Bakke, left, with Jyrki Raina, Finn Erik Thoreson, and Liv Tørres following ‘Trade Unions and the World’ forum
The Congress is taking up a number of structural changes, including statutory ones. One that was passed is another major step in the evolution of the 23-year-old union from a collection of work-based sectors to a unified and cohesive trade union federation.
Instead of a 12-member executive body of five leading officers and seven federal secretaries heading around work sectors, delegates eliminated the specific occupation sectors and formed a seven-member executive. Early today, Arve Bakke was re-elected President of Fellesforbundet, or the United Federation of Norwegian Workers.
Another statutory change that has been debated and will be voted on this week is returning a greater portion of the union’s return on equity to local branches. A major policy change also up for a vote is revising the collective bargaining structure to a vertical system in order to strive for a single collective agreement across an entire company covering workers of all unions within a company.
Delegates are expected to turn down a resolution asking the Norwegian government to adopt the European Union’s directive on temporary work. Norway is not a member of the EU, but has adopted many of its directives.
Photo: Morten M. Løberg
On Sunday, 9 October, the Congress conducted a session “Trade Unions and the World” that featured the importance of work in the developing world. The session served as a precursor for a resolution in support of creation of a Palestinian state. It included Norwegian Peoples’ Aid leaders Liv Tørres and Finn Erik Thoresen, and the International Metalworkers’ Federation’s Jyrki Raina.
Tomorrow, 11 October, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg will spend a half day with delegates, addressing the Congress and then fielding questions and listening to debate.
In his opening comments to the Congress, Arve Bakke said the 153,000-member union has taken in 73,000 new members in the past four-year Congress period, but is 7,000 less members than it was in 2007 mostly due to the effects of the global financial crisis. One positive note, he reported, is that 23% of active members are under the age of 30.
Fellesforbundet was born in 1988 as an amalgamation of trade unions from the paper, wood, forestry, building construction, textile, and metal sectors. In 2005, unions from inside the printing and hotel and restaurant industries joined.