Jonas Gahr Støre trembled in his voice, his eyes almost ran over.
– We have had some difficult years in the Labor Party, Støre said.
The heart of Hans-Christian Gabrielsen (53), the heart that beat so violently for the trade union movement, and for solidarity – it had stopped beating, just like that all night.
The Labor leader stood there in shock and talked to Dagbladet.
– A bauta has passed away, said Støre, and looked down at his shoes.
It was a difficult moment for him. Journalists in the Storting also cried.
– 2021, that is, said SV leader Audun Lysbakken and sighed.
The born LO leader is dead
When it blew
There were many who had appreciated the huge man from Slemmestad.
Hans-Christian Gabrielsen, almost two meters tall, led LO from 2017 until today. He went to bed yesterday, but never woke up. His wife Trine and daughter Cecilie received no warning.
And half an hour after Støre received the news on Tuesday morning, he had to stand in front of the camera lights in Vandrehallen.
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– Loyal and warm
The head of communications in the Labor Party, Jarle Roheim Håkonsen, stroked his boss over the back as he went from one interview to another.
It was as if Håkonsen said “I am here for you, comrade” to his boss, “you can do this”.
Hans-Christian Gabrielsen might also have said something like that, according to those who knew him.
– After the defeat in 2017, Hans-Christian was the first to grab me and said that this is what you have to stand for, Jonas, we will manage this together. When it has blown, he has been there, said Støre.
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Støre was clear that he had not only lost a party colleague – he had also lost a friend.
Many in the party feel that way today.
– He was a very loyal, warm, and nice guy. One you easily fell in love with. Hans-Christian was a friend, not just a colleague. This is very, very sad, says party secretary Kjersti Stenseng (Labor) to Dagbladet.
She too is affected.
– This is a big blow for the whole labor movement. Now we will mourn and remember, and then we will fight for the values Hans-Christian believed in, she continues.
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“Han derre Gabrielsen”
Gabrielsen’s heart, HC as his friends called him, always beat Labor red.
Until it stopped beating.
He was described as one of Norway’s most powerful men, but had a different path to the top of society.
Gabrielsen took a trade certificate as a process operator at Tofte Industrier in the mid-80s, and graduated from the trade union movement. No broiler, but one that worked its way up.
Throughout the 90s, rumors began to circulate about a great political talent. He was employed by Fellesforbundet in 1996, and elected second deputy leader in 2003. In the meantime, he also sat on the municipal board for the Labor Party at home in Røyken.
– As far back as I can remember, there was talk “about him there Gabrielsen” from Fellesforbundet, a future leader of the trade union movement. He was an upcoming star for a very long time, everyone saw that HC wanted to go far, says someone who knew Gabrielsen well.
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The restlessness in the body
Friends of the trade union movement describe to Dagbladet an extremely committed man, one who laid off large amounts of work, and who expected almost inhuman results from himself.
The words “safe” and “generous” are used again and again in the description of Hans-Christian Gabrielsen by those who knew him.
But Gabrielsen was born with a restlessness in his body, he himself told Magasinet in Dagbladet in 2017, shortly after he moved into the management office in LO.
One way he got the turmoil out was to play drums. Hammer and hammer until he was so tired that the unrest was pushed out.
Gabrielsen had become a well-grown man, but loved pounding on his drums, preferably to old Frank Zappa songs with his band.
Gro: – In deep sorrow
Coronaåret
Not all unrest could be jammed out.
Those who knew him describe to Dagbladet an LO leader who was worried that the pandemic would destroy Norwegian working life. Gabrielsen fought tirelessly over the past year to preserve Norwegian industry even after the crisis, it is pointed out.
– The last year he was marked by the seriousness of the country. He was probably worried about how Norwegian working life would get out of the crisis, says a person who knew him.
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Tough
Sources in the Labor Party describe a different LO leader, one who did not make noise for the sake of the noise.
Gabrielsen is described as a teddy bear, a man of almost two meters who cared about the people around him.
– HC may have looked like a tough guy, but he was really just very kind.
Crying in tears Støre: – Hans-Christian was a bauta
Climate change
Friends and colleagues also point out an unusually large climate commitment to the LO leader to be, one who burned to reconcile the climate crisis with the responsibility for preserving jobs in Norwegian industry.
According to Hans-Christian Gabrielsen, the “way out” of the climate crisis was to unite the climate movement and industry.
Dagbladet knows that some forces in the trade union movement regarded Gabrielsen as a man who could sail into the Labor leadership during the 2020s. According to what Dagbladet is aware of, this was considered excluded by Gabrielsen himself.
– I spoke with Hans-Christian no later than Saturday and Sunday about working life policy, about preserving jobs, says Jonas Gahr Støre to Dagbladet.
Gabrielsen was a trade unionist until recently.
Giske: – A rock
Trond Giske knew Gabrielsen well, and sends his thoughts to the family.
– The labor movement has lost a rock that meant a lot to us. I think the term “whole wood” was invented to describe Hans-Christian, says Giske to Dagbladet.
– Could he have joined the party leadership in the long run?
– I think he had been sitting as LO leader for at least three periods and been an undisputed leader there. He would have enjoyed that job. His background gave him enormous confidence in the labor movement.
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