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18 June, 2007
Stefan Löfven was elected President of Nordic IN at a Congress held 15 June in Reykjavik, Iceland. Nordic IN is a regional trade union federation, representing 1.2 million workers of 22 affiliated national unions in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
Löfven, who is the president of Swedish ICEM affiliate, IF Metall, the metal and chemical workers’ union, succeeds Kjell Bjørndalen, who retired. Nordic-In’s biennial Congress, attended by 70 delegates, also elected Thorkild Jensen, from Denmark's CO-industri, and Mari-Ann Krantz, from Sweden's Sif, as vice presidents. Jyrki Raina continues as general secretary.
New Nordic IN President Stefan Löfven
The federation’s action programme 2008-2009 adopted at the Reykjavik Congress states that Nordic unions will work together to:
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safeguard the Nordic model with a high unionisation rate, strong collective agreements, social security and workers' participation;
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work towards fair globalisation and to ensure the respect of trade union rights in all parts of the world;
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promote proactive trade, energy and environmental policies;
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train union officers and European Works Council members on networking and on how to handle cross-border restructuring cases in multinational companies; and to
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promote recruitment of new members and stronger union structures in the Baltic states.
As part of the Congress, a thematic session was held that included participation by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and trade union leaders representing the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF), the European Metal Workers’ Federation (EMF), and the European Mine, Chemical, and Energy Workers’ Federation (EMCEF).
Nordic IN General Secretary Jyrki Raina
That session centered on discussion on the future of the trade union movement in the global economy. “The work Nordic IN is doing is a prime example of what can be accomplished when trade unions unite and follow a common agenda,” said the ICEM’s Warda.
Nordic IN, founded on 1 January 2006 with the merger of Nordic Metal and the Nordic Industry Workers’ Federation (NIF), has as a basic mission to coordinate the policies and action of Nordic trade unions, especially within European industry federations EMF, EMCEF and the European Textile, Clothing, and Leather Federation, as well as within ICEM, IMF, and ITGLWF.
The Congress confirmed that Nordic unions will continue to work to bring industrial workers into one federation in Europe and in the world, in order to maximise our resources in a globalised world.