LO leader Peggy Hessen Følsvik – Jonas must endure LO refs

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According to the LO leader, she and Labor leader Jonas Gahr Støre have discussed how they can ensure better dialogue in the future. The LO leader emphasizes that LO must also take self-criticism.

– In a number of cases, communication has been good. The government has delivered and handed over many of the issues that are important to ordinary workers. We live well with the fact that we disagree on certain issues. The relationship between the party and LO is so strong that we can stand it.

But then we have experienced some cases where the communication between us and the government has not been good enough. I and we in LO take self-criticism on this. But also the government can always be better at involving us, says Hessen Følsvik.

The 35th ordinary LO congress starts on Monday. According to LO leader Peggy Hessen Følsvik, it is Norway’s most important political workshop. The decisions with requirements for working life and for political authorities made here can become national policy, especially if the Labor Party is in government.

Praises the government

For eight years, LO worked for a new red-green government. The Labor Party failed to seize power in 2017. The Labor Party and the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions agreed to strengthen trade union political cooperation in order to win back old Labor voters and strengthen the Labor Party’s share in the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions. The party program was turned to the left, and the election promise “Now is the ordinary people’s turn” designed the then LO leader Hans-Christian Gabrielsen and Labor leader Jonas Gahr Støre together.

The red-greens won the election, and the Labor Party and the Socialist People’s Party formed a well-known government on the Hurdal platform. Wednesday is devoted to a debate on trade union policy cooperation. Jonas Gahr Støre will receive both praise and praise from the delegates. The LO leader is satisfied with many deliveries, especially in working life:

* Pension from the first krone, a case LO and the unions have worked for for many years.

* Restriction of hiring of labor and prohibition of hiring on construction sites in the Oslo area.

* The Norwegian model for a serious and decent working life is on the way.

* Efforts are being made to improve the rights of seafarers, including the Norwegian Wages Act in Norwegian waters.

– Then the government has delivered a major investment in offshore wind, which is the biggest industrial promise we have seen in many years, and which will take us further into the green shift and create jobs. We have a very ambitious Minister of Trade and Industry who has made an effort to increase mainland exports by 50 per cent by 2030 and taken exciting initiatives for renewable industries. So a lot of good policies have been delivered. The challenge is to get the message out. A number of crisis cases have overshadowed most, states Hessen Følsvik.

Noise and anger

Despite major breakthroughs, there has also been a surprising amount of noise between the trade union movement and the Labor Party in government.

* In addition to the Solberg government’s state budget last autumn, the Labor / Social Democrat government failed to fulfill the promise of holiday pay for corona lay-offs. It created shock and rage in the trade union movement.

* LO had to push – in full public – to get a wage support scheme in place.

* The LO leader and the union leaders in the Trade Union and Fellesforbundet found it necessary to go out and demand clean-up and clarification in the commuter apartment cases to the then Minister and Deputy Hadia Tajik.

* In the revised national budget, the government announced the postponed construction of the Ocean Space Center in Trondheim, which created uproar in LO, NHO and in the Labor Party’s ranks, especially in Trøndelag. LO was only notified after the cut had been considered by the government.

Not good enough

LO leader Peggy Hessen Følsvik now confirms that communication with the Labor-led government has not been good enough so far.

– The holiday pay issue was a financial priority. We thought it was the wrong priority. Now it came into place in the end, through the parliamentary deliberations. Then there are some things we would have liked to have seen if we had stopped using such a loud voice to achieve.

The power package support scheme is one example. There we in LO were out, not just once, but several times, to increase the level of it. But in the end, we got a good power package in place, which hits wide and can be adjusted if necessary, says the LO leader.

– Why did you choose together with Jørn Eggum and Mette Nord and go openly in VG and ask for openness and clean-up in the commuter apartment cases of Hadia Tajik?

– It was our way of reporting on the seriousness of the case. The case could have been handled in other ways. But it was a special case. I hope we do not get more of these.

Expecting OSC solution

– What about the postponement of the marine research center OSC in Trondheim?

– It was a single case that came as a great surprise to us. We had not taken part in any discussions about it. I have worked with this case for a long time, and it has been on our work list through many budget rounds. We have perceived that there has been great agreement on it. In the green shift, we will build new technology and new jobs. Then OSC is an important tool. It really surprised us that they chose to cut into it. In any case, I would have liked to be informed, so we could have been told what we meant, says the LO leader.

The news of the postponement of the OSC created strong reactions. County mayor and central board member of the Labor Party, Tore O. Sandvik, called the decision a work accident.

– I perceive that Jonas responded fairly immediately, and said that they will look at the matter again. In fact, I expect that they will solve the case, and that the construction of the center will start this autumn as planned.

– Why has the communication not been good enough?

– It may be because it has been a long time since the Labor Party was in government. One may not be as experienced in how this dialogue should be. There are many new people in the government apparatus, there are many who have not been in government before, and many of us have only worked with the Labor Party in opposition. So we are not as well trained to be in position as in opposition, says Hessen Følsvik.

– You say that the government must tolerate refs from LO when the communication is not good, and when they do not fulfill what they have promised?

– Yes, I think so, and we must endure disagreement and take the debate out in public. It’s just healthy. Jonas is concerned that we must make the communication channels work well, and we have constructive conversations about how to make it happen. I think we can also use the cooperation committee between LO and the Labor Party better, especially on a number of major issues. We have done it in opposition, and have experiences we can take with us further, says the LO leader.

Power and responsibility

She has now had the job of leader for almost more than a million members in LO for more than a year. She took over under dramatic circumstances: On March 9 last year, Hans-Christian Gabrielsen passed away abruptly. From the LO family Hessen Følsvik received praise for her efforts, and this week she will be elected for a new term as LO’s top manager. As LO leader, she is one of the country’s most powerful people.

– It is a long day, a lot of work and a lot of responsibility, but it is a privilege to have this position. It is a unique opportunity to influence society. next week she will be elected for a new term. I have power by virtue of the fact that I will soon represent one million members. It is the organization and the role that gives power, and that should only be missing, with so many behind us, says Hessen Følsvik.

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