FOLKETS HUS I OSLO (VG) Fellesforbund leader Jørn Eggum said six or seven delegates had reported that they felt they had to vote against their wishes during today’s Fellesforbund national meeting.

– The last message I received from one of the delegates today was that the person concerned was unable to attend the national deliberation, because the person concerned felt unable to exercise the voting rights that the delegation thought he had. The delegation didn’t come, Eggum said.

– Is the person staying in a hotel room?

– Yes, the person concerned did not come because he did not want to choose as instructed. This delegation chose to stay indoors and take part in the meeting online. This is quite serious.

He raised the issue from the podium and some central voting was done digitally rather than by a show of hands, so delegates could not be named.

– I have received feedback from both younger and older union representatives who feel uncomfortable standing up for what you believe in, when others expect them to vote differently.

– Are any delegation leaders trying to pressure people to vote against their wishes?

– I don’t know who they are.

– Six or seven

– How many cases do you know?

– There are six or seven people I know who report feeling depressed, but I’ve heard there may be more.

He said there would be a resolution afterward.

– Of course, a trip to the national meet is something they look forward to and are proud of. We have a clear law that there must be a free mandate and you must vote according to your own beliefs.

He emphasized the last point:

– All delegates to national meetings of the Federation participate with a free mandate and must be free to vote according to their own beliefs.

– Someone is missing

Eggum said the pressure was on the regional delegation.

– In some regions, there is pressure to hold joint votes on certain issues. We will overcome this.

– How are you going to do it?

– We have to find out what actually happened, so that we can get an idea of ​​what it is all about. Then we’ll take it up in federal council and if there’s an individual mentioned, we’ll have to take it up with that individual. They will get a clear message from me that that is not acceptable.

Eggum admitted that he suspected something was wrong, when he saw that there were parts that didn’t match.

– Someone is missing. I thought they had fallen asleep, but it turns out there was another reason.

– Is the whip swinging specifically on the issue of agreed pensions?

– No, at this time we don’t know what the problem is. Hopefully the survey will show that.

Eggum said the lack of participation due to possible threats did not affect the outcome of the vote.

– No, based on the votes where there were differences of opinion, I cannot see that the results were so evenly distributed as to change the results of individual votes.