Four trade unions affiliated to Norway's Confederation of Vocational Unions (YS) had been planning a merger since 2002, but two of them pulled out, at least for the present, in late June 2004. The two remaining unions, PRIFO and 2fo, will continue the merger process. However, the merged union, due to be established on 1 January 2005, will now have 30,000 members rather than 90,000, as originally envisaged.
In late June 2004, parallel meetings were held to decide on the fate of a planned merger between four member trade unions of the Confederation of Vocational Unions (Yrkesorganisasjonenes Sentralforbund, YS), initiated in August 2002 (NO0312102F). Following the meetings, which involved the highest decision-making bodies of all four organisations, it became clear that only two unions - the Confederation of Employees in the Private Sector (Privatansattes Fellesorganisasjon, PRIFO) and the Union of Public and Private Sector Employees (Flerfaglig Fellesorganisasjon, 2fo) - will continue the process towards creating a new organisation. The other two unions - the Norwegian Confederation of Municipal Employees (Kommunalansattes Fellesforbund, KFO) and the Union of Civil Servants in Norway (Statstjenestemannsforbundet, STAFO) - will not go forward with the process at present time, though both have left the door open for a possible future merger.
The decisions by KFO and STAFO to opt out of the merger process came as a surprise to the other two unions, because in the course of the deliberation process there seemed to be a general consensus within all four organisations about the desirability of a merger. In both PRIFO and 2fo, an overwhelming majority of delegates gave their support to the planned merger at the meetings in June. In STAFO, on the other hand, internal voting procedures (requiring a qualified majority vote), meant that, despite a slight majority in favour, the proposed merger failed to receive sufficient support from delegates. KFO abstained from making any decision on the matter on grounds that the deliberation process had so far not generated a sufficient basis on which to make such a decision. Instead it decided further to consider the basis for a possible future merger with the unions concerned, or alternatively examine collaboration by other means.
The opt-outs by KFO and STAFO will leave the future new organisation considerably diminished. The involvement of only PRIFO and 2fo will give the new organisation a membership of approximately 30,000, compared with almost 90,000 if KFO and STAFO had been included. The loss of KFO is particularly damaging, as it has 55,000 members. The membership base of the new organisation will nevertheless cover large parts of Norwegian working life, representing a broad range of employees in both public and private sector. Members of 2fo are found in both the state sector and in previously state-owned enterprises, and PRIFO members may be found among both blue- and white-collar workers in the private sector. The new organisation has so far not been given a name and, as a result of the changed circumstances, amendments will have to be made by the two remaining unions to the original merger proposal. They will thus jointly consider a new basis for a merger, which will be subject to approval at extraordinary national conventions in both 2fo and PRIFO in November 2004. The new organisation should be established on 1 January 2005.