In September 1998, it became public that two employers' organisations in the Norwegian service sector, HSH and APO, are planning a merger. According to the plans, APO will cease to function from summer 1999.
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In September 1998, it became public that two employers' organisations in the Norwegian service sector, HSH and APO, are planning a merger. According to the plans, APO will cease to function from summer 1999.
On 1 September 1998, it became public knowledge that the Commercial Employers' Association (Handels og Servicenæringens Hovedorganisasjon, HSH) and Arbeidsgiverforeningen for private virksomheter i offentlig sektor (APO), an employers' association for privately-owned enterprises operating in the public sector, had entered into a draft agreement with the intention of merging. HSH is Norway's second largest employers' organisation in the private sector, with some 8,000 member companies - mostly in the wholesale and retail trade - with 100,000 employees. APO organises, among others, private hospitals and kindergartens and has approximately 600 member companies with 17,000 employees.
A press release from the two organisations stated that the plan is to negotiate a final merger agreement, which will be signed in November 1998. The practical aspects of the merger will be carried out at the turn of the year 1998/9, and APO will formally be dissolved in the summer of 1999. The boards of both organisations have approved the merger plans, and only APO's general assembly will now be able to stop the merger going ahead.
Anne-Grete Ellingsen, the director general of HSH, will continue as director general after the merger. Special sections will be established within HSH's departments, with the purpose of giving service to former APO members.
The merger will, according to the two organisations, provide members with an organisation better equipped to be a spokesperson on behalf of the trade and service sector in Norway.
One reason for the merger is HSH's wish to strengthen its position within the service sector. In the past few years, HSH has incorporated as members a number of other organisations in the retail and wholesale trade, and a merger with APO will give it a broader membership representation in other parts of the service sector. HSH has also increasingly emphasised its views independently of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (Næringslivets Hovedorganisasjon, NHO), which is the dominant employers' organisation in the Norwegian private sector (NO9712138F).
From APO's point of view, the merger is justified by the fact that it will strengthen its position in collective bargaining, and that it will be better able to meet the increasing degree of privatisation and price competition in the public sector. At present, APO has by and large the same collective agreements as similar enterprises in the public sector.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (1998), Service employers' organisations to merge, article.
