Wanja Lundby-Wedin
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| Wanja Lundby-Wedin | |
 Wanja Lundby-Wedin after being elected President of the European Trade Union Confederation
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| Born | October 19, 1952 Enskede, Södermanland, Sweden |
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| Nationality | Swedish |
| Occupation | Nurse, trade union leader. |
| Political party | Swedish Social Democratic Party |
Wanja Elisabeth Lundby-Wedin (born 19 October 1952 in Enskede, Södermanland, Sweden) has been the President of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Swedish: Landsorganisationen i Sverige or LO) since 2000. From 2007, she is also the President of the European Trade Union Confederation.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Trade union career
After having worked as a nursing auxiliary at Högdalen hospital in southern Stockholm, Lundby-Wedin studied to become assistant nurse, and started to work at Danderyd hospital north of Stockholm. There, she got her first trade union assignment, as union liaison officer for the Swedish Municipal Workers' Union. In 1981 she was employed as union representative at the Stockholm branch of the union, and in 1987 she became Head of the Department for Environmental Issues at its national headquarters. In 1994 she became Vice President of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and at the confederation's congress in September 2000 she was elected President, thereby becoming the first women on that post.[1]
[edit] President of the ETUC
On May 25, 2007 Wanja Lundby-Wedin was elected the President of the European Trade Union Confederation, ETUC.[2] She thus became the first women president of the ETUC as well as the first ETUC president from Sweden. In her acceptance speech she emphasised her support for solid welfare systems and criticised the migration and refugee policy of the European Union.[citation needed]
[edit] Role in the Social Democratic party
In the capacity of President of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, Lundby-Wedin is also a member of the Executive of the Social Democratic Party. In 2006, she was mentioned in the media as one of the possible candidates to lead the party[3] after Göran Persson resigned the party leadership following the defeat in the 2006 parliamentary election. She did not show any public interest in the post, and told journalists she considered Mona Sahlin, who later received the post, a good candidate, although she refused to name a favourite.[4] In the final months before the leadership election her name was no longer generally mentioned in the discussion.
[edit] Other assignments
Lundby-Wedin has also held the following posts:[1]
- ICFTU, member of the executive committee and deputy member of the steering committee
- Council of Nordic Trade Unions, member of the executive committee
- President of the insurance company Folksam - non-life insurances
- Board member of AFA Insurance
- Board member of AMF Pensions
[edit] Personal life
Lundby-Wedin is married and have two grown-up children.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Wanja Lundby-Wedin, President of LO-Sweden. LO.
- ^ Election of the new leadership of the European Trade Union Confederation. ETUC.
- ^ Vem tar över efter Göran Persson? (swedish). Göteborgs-Posten.
- ^ Sahlin är inte fackets fiende – anser LO:s ordförande (swedish). LO-tidningen.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Bertil Jonsson |
President of LO 2000— |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Cándido Méndez Rodríguez |
President of ETUC 2007— |
Succeeded by incumbent |
