The Norwegian Seafarers' Union, NSU, ( no, Norsk Sjømannsforbund, NSF) is a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

representing sailors in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The union was established 25 September 1910, as the Norwegian Sailors' and Firemen's Union (Norsk Matros- og Fyrbøter-Union), and immediately affiliated to the

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions ( no, Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO) is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national unions ...

. In 1933, it merged with the Norwegian Stewards' and Cooks' Union, and adopted its current name. The English translation was gradually changed over several years around 2000 from Norwegian Seamen's Union. The change came in order to emphasise NSU's international work for equal opportunities regardless of gender. The NSU is open for all categories of seafarers from Apprentice Seafarer to Master, but mainly organize all groups of ratings both on deck and in engine, the catering personnel, and some groups of officers like the Steward and the Chief Electrician. The NSU has members sailing both worldwide and domestic, amongst others in cruise, ferries, oil-related offshore/supply, aboard the deep sea fishing fleet and aboard local freighters. The union has 10,500 members, of which 9,000 are working members. Additional 35,000 non-domicile seafarers are covered by

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...

agreements (CBA) negotiated with NSU as either the only employee part or being employee part as one of several cooperating unions. When cooperating internationally with other unions on CBAs the NSU operates through formalized partnerships with other seafarers' unions affiliated with the

International Transport Workers' Federation The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017 the ITF had 677 member organizations in 149 countries, representing a combined membership ...

(ITF), usually the national seafarers' union(s) of the concerned seafarers' home country. These international CBAs are usually covering seafarers working on ships under

Flag of convenience Flag of convenience (FOC) is a business practice whereby a ship's owners register a merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ensign of that country, called the flag state ...

(FOC) as defined by the ITF, or on ships in the

Norwegian International Ship Register Norwegian International Ship Register or NIS is a separate Norwegian ship register for Norwegian vessels aimed at competing with flags of convenience registers such as Panama and Liberia. Originally proposed by Erling Dekke Næss in 1984, it was est ...

(NIS), where Norwegian law allows for non-domicile seafarers employed on local employment conditions (usually with much lower wages) of the seafarers' home country. Internationally, the NSU is affiliated with the Nordic Transport Workers' Federation, the

European Transport Workers' Federation The European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) represents over 5 million transport workers from more than 200 transport unions across Europe, from the European Union, the European Economic Area, and Central and Eastern Europe, in over 30 countri ...

and the ITF. The NSU shares its headquarters with the Norwegian Maritime Officers' Association and the

Norwegian Union of Marine Engineers Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

in Oslo. The three unions jointly publish the ''Maritim Logg'' magazine, and operate closely together, as the Norwegian Maritime Unions (Sjømannsorganisasjonene i Norge).

Presidents

* 1910–1920 Gerhardt Gulbrandsen * 1920–1936 Anders Birkeland * 1936–1958

Ingvald Haugen Ingvald Haugen (16 October 1894 – 20 June 1958) was a Norwegian trade union leader and politician for the Labour Party. He was born in Hadsel, Norway. President of the Norwegian Seafarers' Union (NSU) 1936 – 1958. Under his leadersh ...

* 1958–1966 Gunvald Hauge * 1966–1972 Olaf Karling * 1972–1988 Henrik Aasarød * 1988–1993 Edvin Ramsvik * 1993–1994 Olav Bjørklund * 1994–2006 Erik Bratvold * 2006–2014 Jacqueline Smith * 2014–2022 Johnny Hansen * 2022- Kurt Inge Angell

References

External links

Norsk Sjømannsforbund
official Norwegian language site.
Norwegian Seafarers' Union
official English language site. Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions Trade unions established in 1910 International Transport Workers' Federation Seafarers' trade unions 1910 establishments in Norway {{Europe-trade-union-stub