– This was really good

On October 31st to November 1st, invited YTF to a conference in Sandvika. Many people wanted to participate, and the goal was to bring together shop stewards who otherwise do not participate in central courses and gatherings. Here they would enjoy two days of a wide range of lectures and socializing with other shop stewards in YTF .  

– We are committed to taking care of all our elected representatives and ensuring that they feel close to the organization. For some elected representatives, it may have been several years since they participated in something important. We thought it was time to invite them to something, and thus the idea of YTF -conference created, says Secretary General of YTF , Linda Jaeger.  

The kick-off was set with Jonas Bals' lecture on the history of trade unions. Bals is an author and political advisor, and engaged the audience with his presentation. He drew the historical lines from the early beginnings of trade unions in Europe to today's organized labor. This was among the topics at the conference that touched the most, and several highlighted this as a highlight.  

One participant said that the tears came afterwards, and that it became clear how important positions of trust and involvement in trade unions are. – This was really good, and strong food.  

Committed to retirement

On the first day, YTF's lawyer, Josefine Wærstad, also gave a presentation. She talked about why it is often best to try to resolve cases locally, and when it is appropriate to involve the legal department in YTF . Then, Chief Economist at YS, Merete Onshus, spoke about the front-line model, and its advantages and disadvantages.  

The day ended with a deep dive into pensions and what to watch out for with Alexandra Plathe, lawyer and head of Formuesforvaltning Pensjonsrådgivning. Many of the participants said they had had some revelations, and there was no shortage of questions for Plathe during the breaks. There are probably several people who will take a look at their own pensions after this lecture.  

Employer's perspective 

The next day started with a presentation on how shop stewards can work well – from the employer’s perspective. The presentation was given by Johannes Straume, a lawyer at NHO Transport. Then it was YTF’s deputy chairwoman, Trude Sande, who talked about the importance of the role as shop steward. She took the audience through her own journey from being a member to where she is today, deputy chairwoman of YTF , and why she is passionate about her duties.  

To say something about the state of affairs in working life in 2023, researcher Mari Ingelsrud was invited to talk about the YS Working Life Barometer. And finally, YTF's communications manager, Adrian Pracon, presented the results from both the tour bus survey and the border survey 2023.  

Happy gang 

The goal of the conference was to motivate and engage in further union work, and for everyone to get two days of refreshment. YTF The 2023 conference was the first of its kind in the union, and the feedback along the way was good. The combination of informative and skilled lecturers and the opportunity to meet other union representatives was highlighted as positive.  

– We experienced that there was a satisfied group that returned home from the conference, and we are pleased with the positive feedback we have received so far. We hope and believe that we have achieved what we wanted with the conference, summarizes the Secretary General.