Gerd-Liv Valla

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Gerd-Liv Valla (born 25 January 1948 in Korgen, Nordland) was the leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) from 2001, when she took over after former leader, Yngve Hågensen, to 2007, when she resigned. In 1997 she was the Norwegian Minister of Justice.

[edit] Education and professional life

Valle has a political science hovedfag (main subject, comparable to a Master), with social anthropology mellomfag (middle subject) and public law grunnfag (basic subject). She became cand.polit. at the University of Oslo in 1977, and took paedagogical seminary in 1979. She headed the Norwegian Student Union 1974–75. For seven years she was married to the historian Harald Berntsen. Together they have a daughter.

She has worked both in the trade unions and as first consultant and office leader at the Norwegian Research Council, as well as Høgskole lector at Eik Teacher Academy in Tønsberg.

[edit] Controversy

Main article: Valla scandal

In January 2007 Valla was accused of having an authoritarian leading style and harassing by Ingunn Yssen, a former deputy. This sparked enormous media-interest in Valla, and generated heated debate over her future as leader of the LO-organization.^[1] On the 9th of March, under massive pressure, she announced her resignation after a controversial external inquiry found that she and LO had violated several Norwegian labor laws.^[2]

[edit] References

Preceded by Anne Holt	Norwegian Minister of Justice and the Police 1997	Succeeded by Aud Inger Aure
Preceded by Yngve Hågensen	Leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions 2001–2007	Succeeded by Roar Flåthen