Tor Halvorsen (24 November 1930 – 4 November 1987) was a

Norwegian 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 ...

trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party.

Biography

He was born in

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the ...

. He started his working career in a shoe factory in 1946. In 1952 he was hired as a

plumber A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, and for sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

Porsgrunn is a city and municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. The municipality of Porsgrunn w ...

. He then head the trade union of

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around the world a ...

Herøya Herøya is a peninsula in the municipality of Porsgrunn, Norway. It is located between the fjords of Frierfjord to the west and Gunneklevfjord to the east, at the mouth of Telemarksvassdraget. The name stems from the Old Norse word "her-eyjar" m ...

from 1961 to 1968. He was a district secretary in Arbeidernes Opplysningsforbund from 1968 to 1969, and then a secretary of 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 union ...

, a position he held from 1969 to 1973 and 1976 to 1977. He served as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway from

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

during the term 1969–1973. He was a member of Skien city council from 1963 to 1971, and chaired the local Labour Party chapter from 1969 to 1971. In 1973 he was named

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of an ...

in Bratteli's Second Cabinet. During a cabinet reshuffle in 1974 he became Minister of Social Affairs, first acting from April, then permanently from September. He replaced the deceased Sonja Ludvigsen, and in August 1974 the newspaper ''

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

'' wrote, wrongly, that the "only thing which can be said to be certain now, is that the new Minister of Social Affairs will be a woman". Halvorsen sat throughout the time of Bratteli's Second Cabinet, to 1976. In 1977 he became leader of the Confederation of Trade Unions, a position he kept until his death in 1987. At the same time he was a member of the Labour Party central board from 1977 to 1987. Halvorsen was chairman of Norsk Arbeiderpresse for some time, and deputy chairman of

Rikshospitalet Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet is one of the four main campuses of Oslo University Hospital in Oslo, Norway. It was an independent hospital, ''Rigshospitalet'', later spelled ''Rikshospitalet'' ("The National Hospital"), from 1826 to 200 ...

from 1981 to 1987. He was a board member of

Norsk Medisinaldepot Norsk Medisinaldepot AS is a pharmaceutics and healthcare products wholesaler in Norway. It also operates the pharmacy chains Vitusapotek and the franchise chain Ditt Apotek. NMD is part of the Celesio group and has a total of 185 pharmacies i ...

from 1977 to 1987 and 1980 to 1987, of Folketrygdfondet from 1978 to 1987, the

Norwegian Industrial Bank The Norwegian Industrial Bank ( no, Den Norske Industribank), also known as the Industry Bank, was a Norwegian bank. It had a nationwide mandate as an industrial development bank. It was created in 1936, amid the interwar economic crisis, to supply ...

from 1980 to 1981 and Norsk Folkeferie, Strømmens Verksted and Samvirke forsikring. He was a deputy board member of the Norwegian Directorate of Labour from 1971 to 1973 and a deputy member of

NTNF The Royal Norwegian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research ( no, Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Forskningsråd) or NTNF was the first of five research councils established in Norway. It existed from 1946 until the end of 1992, when the f ...

from 1972 to 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halvorsen, Tor 1930 births 1987 deaths Politicians from Skien Norwegian trade unionists Politicians from Telemark Deputy members of the Storting Government ministers of Norway Ministers of Climate and the Environment of Norway Labour Party (Norway) politicians