Are we now seeing an LO that is trying to take back its old greatness, or an LO that is extending itself? As Norway’s by far the largest and most important workers’ organisation, LO has had a very special power and position. Now it may look like they are struggling with how to manage it. While LO leader Peggy Hessen Følsvik has been in Brazil, LO has lost the IA negotiations and sent vague signals about the Labor leader’s future. At the same time, there is a lot of stress-inducing happening in LO’s own backyard: What is called LO’s political arm, the Labor Party, seems to be crumbling. If the measurements are to be believed, Ap’s position could be significantly reduced. It is also a problem for LO’s legitimacy that fewer and fewer LO members vote Ap. A recent survey showed that Ap and Frp were equally large (18 per cent) among the traditionally radical El and IT members. LO is no longer the largest union in the State, and has faced great competition for employees with higher education and in the public sector. At the same time, there is some uneasiness among some of the unions as to whether LO is the right port for them to be in. Although LO is clearly the largest, they also have many retired members and struggle to recruit in new industries that are growing. To all intents and purposes, the big talking point inside and outside Røssla is whether LO leader Peggy Hessen Følsvik will step down at the congress in the spring, and whether it is Fellesforbundet’s Jørn Eggum who will become the next LO leader. Never experienced the makan The break in the IA negotiations last week was long forewarned. The distance between LO’s absolute demand to protect sick pay and NHO’s opposite ultimatum to refuse to protect sick pay simply could not be reconciled. More startling was what happened in the negotiation room. LO experienced being both isolated and pressured. Not only did the employers manage to stick together. There was also considerable effort on the employee side, where both UNIO, the Academics and YS were willing to go the extra mile to reach an agreement. Impersonator is even more special. LO is furious that the others went behind their backs, and the LO leader says that she has never experienced makan. The others claim that it was LO itself that sat on the sidelines, and the Academics accuse LO of telling lies. Various parties in the IA negotiations describe the whole thing as “unmatched” and the most demanding negotiations they have been involved in. LO on the sidelines Critics will say that the roles have been reversed. LO has been used to getting what they wanted. Now it is LO who will be sitting in the hallway. It is a position they are obviously not comfortable in. On Monday, LO took the unusual step of demanding that the parties had to appear before the Minister of Labor and sign the IA agreement. But if the demand from LO had some of the power of olden times over it, the response from the employers was more in 2024. They did not jump at all when LO said jump, and the end result was that LO broke all cooperation with NHO and the other employers. Outsiders wonder if it is power or powerlessness that LO is demonstrating here. What happens now, no one quite knows. What is the difference between what LO calls “ice-cold conditions in the salary settlement” and the usual stand-up-to-your-collar mentality? If LO’s reaction did not make much of an impression on the other parties, it can of course have a mobilizing and unifying effect within the LO family. They themselves believe that this could become an important election campaign issue. And it may be needed. Stayed with the black pepper Because it is not the first time this autumn that LO appears to be a loser. This spring, LO used its influence on the government to demand that all employees in the state should have a common collective agreement. It happened after the Akademikerne and Unio had their own collective agreement, which they believe has given their members better salary development. Here, LO faced a double defeat in the national wage board. Unio and Akademikerne were allowed to keep their agreement, while LO was forced into the agreement with YS. LO’s role in the Labor Party’s leadership debate During the year’s most talked about trip to Brazil, the LO leader had to calm the storm surrounding Ap leader Jonas Gahr Støre. LO has had the role of both protector and executioner for Ap leaders throughout the ages. Storting President Masud Gharahkhani would not answer whether Støre should continue as party leader after Ap’s central board meeting on Monday. At his side is Fellesforbundet’s Jørn Eggum, who many speculate will be LO’s next leader. Photo: NTB This time, doubts have been deliberately created about how strong and binding LO’s support for Støre really is. While some will say that it was a bad phone line to Brazil that was the reason why it took time before Peggy Hessen Følsvik gave Støre support, others will say that it is far from accidental. It is just as certain that LO speaks with at least two tongues, that more people than before are puzzled by LO’s role in Ap’s leadership drama. But it is unlikely that anyone will call and demand to get LO power back. Published 11.12.2024, at 08.44
ttn-69
Old power does not find a completely new form – Expression
