June 2001 saw the establishment of Norway's first employers' association in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. The new organisation is called Abelia, and is a member organisation of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO).
On 20 June 2001, Abelia was founded as Norway's first employers' association for the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. The new association is a member organisation of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (Næringslivets Hovedorganisasjon, NHO) and initially groups around 300 member companies from the ICT sector and from adjacent "knowledge-based" companies and consultancies. The new association's main ambition is to be an organisational alternative for companies within the Norwegian ICT sector, by combining the role of industry association and employers' federation.
An employers' association for ICT and knowledge-based companies
NHO has traditionally, through its various member associations, been the most important employers' organisation in the Norwegian ICT sector, and Abelia is very much based on this pre-existing membership. The majority of its members come from two previous NHO affiliates, the Norwegian Federation of Knowledge Enterprises (Kunnskapsbedriftenes Landsforening, KBL) and the ICT section within the Federation of Norwegian Manufacturing Industries (Teknologibedriftenes Landsforening, TBL), the largest sectoral association within NHO. As such, it includes companies within areas such as telecommunications, satellite communications, computer software, maritime information technology, research and education. The president of the new association's board comes from SINTEF, the most important Norwegian technological research institute.
Abelia is very unusual in that it, unlike the other NHO member associations, very much transcends several branches or sectors. Even if much of the focus is on ICT businesses, it also incorporates adjacent branches (knowledge-based industry and knowledge-based services). It will thus be party to a wide variety of collective agreements and have relations with a significant number of different trade unions. Abelia also aims to provide an alternative for companies which are not covered by collective agreements.
Abelia's industry policy objectives are to increase the competitiveness of the Norwegian ICT industry and increase exports, by directing attention to the need for: improving research and development; improving access to qualified labour (among other measures, through increased labour immigration - NO0012113N); the establishment of favourable tax conditions for ICT companies; and, more generally, encouraging the national authorities to improve the economic and political environment within which ICT companies operate today.
Industrial relations in ICT
The ICT sector in Norway is regarded as a difficult sector in which to establish collective relationships, because it deviates very much from the more traditional models of organising working life and industrial relations. It also reflects the future challenges facing the traditional trade union movement as well as traditional employers' organisations. Thus, the creation of Abelia marks a significant step forward, not only for NHO, but also for the sector as a whole.
Although Abelia may be argued to be the first genuine employers' association in the ICT sector, there are nevertheless a significant number of organisations that represent ICT companies in Norway. NAVO, previously the Norwegian Association of Publicly Owned Enterprises (NO9712138F), is significant because its members include the largest ICT company in Norway, Telenor. Furthermore, the Federation of Norwegian Commercial and Service Enterprises (Handels- og Servicenæringens Hovedorganisasjon, HSH), the second largest private sector employers' confederation, is also involved in this sector, although its ICT members only make up a small portion of its membership base. However, it does organise important companies such as NCR Norway and ICL Norway. There are also other more "professional" organisations for the ICT sector, but most of them do not act as employers' organisations. However, an interesting case in this regard is ICT Norway (IKT Norge), which has approximately 350 member companies within the fields of business machines and telecommunications terminal equipment (hardware, software, multimedia, and services). Although its formal status is purely as an organisation representing the professional interest of its members, it does participate in the public debate on pay and working conditions issues, and has on occasions voiced its opposition to collective wage formation. Furthermore, it provides legal assistance and consultation for member companies on employment issues and labour law.
There is significant statistical uncertainty over estimates of organisational density among both employers and employees in the ICT sector. Generally speaking, union density and collective agreement coverage are quite high in those parts of the sector where there is a tradition of entering into collective agreements, such as manufacturing industry and the previously state-owned enterprises such as the Telenor telecommunications company (where density and coverage is approximately 605). The same may be argued in relation to employers' organisation membership density, which is most probably relatively high in the larger ICT manufacturing companies. As for the other parts of the sector (wholesale and retail trade and data processing), the organisational density among both employees and employers is probably very low, especially within data processing.
Commentary
The organisational structure on the employer side, and indeed on the employee side, in the ICT sector is fragmented and elusive, and as such the task of organising this part of the Norwegian economy has never been easy. This especially applies to the ICT service sector (computer and related activities). There are continuous changes in company and ownerships structures, and mergers and takeovers are frequent. Important parts of the sector have low organisational density on both sides, and pay is rarely determined through collective agreements. The general impression is that employees within this sector enjoy a greater degree of variable pay, commission on sales, or remuneration in the form of stock options etc, and that there is a significant degree of individual wage determination. Furthermore, the attitude of many employers (and indeed employees) within this part of the ICT sector is often an impediment to collective organisations, because - by virtue of being a new and fast growing sector - collective bargaining and industrial relations are seen to have little significance.
Within this environment, NHO has for a significant number of years been working to attract new members, and also to establish cooperative ventures with other actors. These attempts have been relatively unsuccessful. Its activities in these areas, however, have nevertheless been increasing in the past few years, and NHO is deeply involved in ICT industry policy formation as well as in innovative projects in relation to "e-commerce" and "e-learning".
The impression is that Abelia's emphasis will be on developing its role in industry policy formation, rather than its role as an employers' organisation. Thus a number of questions remain unanswered. What will its role and attitude be in relation to collective bargaining, and to what extent will it play by the same rules as the more traditional industry associations within NHO? There are also speculations about Abelia's role within the organisation of NHO itself, and the extent to which the new organisation will form the basis for a policy shift and restructuring within NHO.
Another important issue is the role of Telenor, because it is still organised in NAVO. Telenor was heavily involved in the deliberation process leading up to the creation of Abelia, and is intended to continue to have an important role. The Telenor group is involved in traditional telecommunications activity as well as having established a significant number of new ICT-based companies. Telenor is an important company, given its size and influence within the ICT sector, and will thus be an important ally for any party wanting to exert influence over industry policy formation within this sector of the Norwegian economy.
It will also be interesting to see the effect of the establishment of Abelia on collective bargaining in the ICT sector, because trade unions are now also directing their efforts towards this sector. Over the past two years, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO) has reviewed its collective agreement system in order to accommodate better the "new" ICT occupations. In doing this, it also recognises the need to "tone down" traditional collective bargaining rhetoric in its strategy to attract ICT employees, and has expressed willingness to allow this sector a good degree of flexibility with regards to its industrial relations. LO and NHO have traditionally been the two most powerful organisation in the Norwegian labour market, not least because of their strong cooperative relationship. A continuation of this relationship may be vital for both sides in their effort to "tidy up" representation in the ICT sector.
The interim board of the Abelia has also made an interesting choice in appointing as director general Paul Chaffey, whose professional background includes parliamentary representation for a party to the left on the political continuum in Norway. He argues that the dynamic nature of the ICT sector forces Abelia to take active part in industry policy formation in Norway. He has yet to comment on Abelia's role as an employers' organisation. (Håvard Lismoen, FAFO Institute for Applied Social Science)