In the spring of 2001, the position of president of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) will be vacant, and the various factions within the organisation have already begun to position themselves in late 1999. LO's vice-president, whose background in in the public sector, strengthened her position when the leader of LO's bargaining cartel in the state sector surprisingly withdrew his candidature in November 1999. There are strong forces in operation trying to find an alternative candidate from the private sector unions.
The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO) is due to elect a new president in May 2001 to succeed Yngve Hågensen, who is retiring. The race to become the new leader is already underway. A strong candidate for the post is LO's vice-president, Gerd-Liv Valla. Many commentators believe that Ms Valla's candidature was strengthened when the leader of LO's bargaining cartel in the state sector, Terje Moe Gustavsen, decided not to run for the presidency in November 1999. Mr Moe Gustavsen, who was also regarded as a strong candidate for the position, is leaving his job as leader of LO-Stat for a new position in the newly merged telecommunications company Telenor/Telia.
Contest for the presidency
Thus far, the leadership contest within LO seems to be a battle between unions of the public and the private sectors. The present vice-president, Gerd-Liv Valla, originates from the Norwegian Civil Service Union (Norsk Tjenestemannslag, NTL), and would, if elected, be the first elected LO leader from the public sector, the first LO leader with a university education and indeed the first female LO leader (NO9705110F). Ms Valla already has the backing of several influential trade union representatives in the public sector, including the largest LO-affiliated union, the Norwegian Union of Municipal Employees (Norsk Kommuneforbund, NKF). In other parts of LO, efforts are being made to find alternative candidates from the private sector and especially manufacturing industry. Potential private sector candidates are the leader of the Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions (Fellesforbundet), Kjell Bjørndalen, and LO's director of information, Ellen Stensrud, whose origins are in manufacturing industry and Fellesforbundet. These two have yet to confirm their candidatures, and other candidates from the private sector may emerge as the contest progresses.
The general impression is that Ms Valla will be running, although her candidature has not been formally confirmed. She is regarded as a strong candidate because she is already the vice-president of LO, and as such is a natural candidate to many representatives. Furthermore, many people believe that the time has come for a public sector leader, and there are present no alternative candidates from the public sector.
Commentary
There is already sufficient evidence to suggest that the leadership contest within LO will see a contest between the private and the public sector. Today almost half of LO's members are in the public sector, and for that reason many argue that the next president should be drawn from this sector. Those in favour of a private sector leader stress first and foremost manufacturing industry's importance in wage formation and with regard to economic developments, and argue that this must also be reflected in the LO leadership. So far there has not been significant internal tension within LO as such, although there is disagreement on some issues (NO9807179N). However, matters such as wage policy may in the future prove to generate significant tension within the organisation.
An important argument for many is that, out of consideration for LO's internal as well as external reputation, there should be a female leader in 2001. Today, Norway's three other main union confederations have female leaders and LO has frequently been criticised for being a male-dominated organisation, with a political platform entrenched in an outdated industrial society. The proportion of female members of LO has increased in the past 30 years from 24% percent in 1970 to 45% now. There are at present many female trade union representatives in the member unions of LO, including at the central level, but their top leadership positions, including elected posts, are still dominated by men. Although five out of eight members of LO's elected leadership board are women, a female president has yet to emerge. Thus, there is reason to believe that the supporters of a private sector leader will also attempt to find a female candidate, not least in order to improve the sector's standing in the leadership race.
The last time LO's national congress elected a new leader was in 1989, when the contest was between a candidate from the private sector (Mr Hågensen) and a candidate from the public sector. Mr Hågensen was later re-elected, unchallenged, at the congresses of 1993 and 1997. The forthcoming election may come to dominate LO's congress in 2001, unless one candidate has received undisputed majority support by that time. (Kristine Nergaard, FAFO Institute for Applied Social Science)