Gerd-Liv Valla

{{Infobox officeholder

|image =Gerd-Liv Valla.JPG

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Gerd-Liv Valla

| honorific-suffix =

| office = Leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions

| term_start= 2001

| term_end= 9 March 2007

| predecessor = Yngve Hågensen

| successor = Roar Flåthen

| office2= Minister of Justice

| term_start2= 4 February 1997

| term_end2= 17 October 1997

| primeminister2= Thorbjørn Jagland

| predecessor2= Anne Holt

| successor2= Aud Inger Aure

| office3= State Secretary for the Prime Minister of Norway

| term_start3= 10 January 1992

| term_end3= 21 January 1994

| primeminister3= Gro Harlem Brundtland

| office4= Political Advisor for the Prime Minister of Norway

| term_start4= 12 November 1990

| term_end4= 10 January 1992

| primeminister4= Gro Harlem Brundtland

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|1|25|df=y}}

| birth_place =Korgen, Nordland, Norway

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = Norwegian

| party = Labour

| spouse = Harald Berntsen

| relations =

| children = 1

| residence = Oslo, Norway

| alma_mater = University of Oslo

| occupation =

| profession =

| religion =

| signature =

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

Gerd-Liv Valla (born 25 January 1948 in Korgen, Nordland) is a Norwegian former trade union leader, who served as leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO). She took over in 2001 (from former leader, Yngve Hågensen) and resigned in 2007 as a result of the so-called Valla affair. In 1997 she briefly served as minister of justice.

Early life

Valla grew up on a farm near Bjerka in Hemnes Municipality in Nordland county. Their father was active in the Norwegian Agrarian Association, and her brother Nils Valla would become a national leader of this organization. Gerd-Liv Valla moved to Hemnesberget to complete her primary education, and to Mo i Rana for upper secondary school. While living in Mo, she competed for Mo IL in middle distance running and set a Northern Norwegian record in the 800 metres.{{cite news |first=Arne |last=Sellæg |title=Valla-søsken nådde makttoppen |url=http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/okonomi/article525638.ece |work=Nationen |language=no |date=22 July 2005 |accessdate=2008-06-24 }} The time was 2:18.1 minutes, achieved in June 1968 on Bislett stadion.[http://www.friidrett.no/friidrett/statistikk/at/sen/K800.htm Norwegian all-time list, women's 800 metres] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604023351/http://www.friidrett.no/friidrett/statistikk/at/sen/K800.htm |date=2008-06-04 }} - Norwegian Athletics Association

Education and professional life

Valla has a major degree in political science, with minors in social anthropology and public law. She graduated as cand.polit. from the University of Oslo in 1977, and attended the Department of Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Oslo in 1979. She headed the Norwegian Student Union 1974–75. Valla was politically active in Kommunistisk Universitetslag (KUL), a small communist group. KUL eventually split in 1981 over strong controversy within the group due to differing views on Stalin; Valla supported the pro-Stalin faction within the group during the struggle between the stalinists and the anti-stalinists.Vidar Helgesen: [https://www.minervanett.no/stalinisten-valla/ Stalinisten Valla]. Article in Minerva (Norwegian periodical)

For seven years she was married to historian Harald Berntsen. Together they have a daughter.

She has worked both in the trade unions and as first consultant and office leader at the Research Council of Norway, as well as lector at Eik Teacher Academy in Tønsberg.

In 1997 she was appointed Minister of Justice and the Police in the cabinet Jagland, replacing Anne Holt who left. Valla left the government in late 1997, when Prime Minister Jagland announced his cabinet's resignation as a result of the 36.9 ultimatum and was replaced by the first cabinet Bondevik.

The Valla affair

In January 2007 Valla was accused of harassment and of having an authoritarian management style by Ingunn Yssen, who had been the director of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions's office for international affairs and previously served as Valla's state secretary in the Ministry of Justice. This became known as the Valla affair and sparked enormous media interest in Valla, generating heated debate over her future as leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions.{{cite news|first=Solrun |last=Dregelid |author2=Lars Magne Sunnanå |author2-link=Lars Magne Sunnanå |author3=Jonathan Tisdall |title=LO faces inquiry |url=http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1607577.ece |work=Aftenposten |date=18 January 2007 |accessdate=2008-06-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523220802/http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1607577.ece |archive-date=2011-05-23 }} On 9 March, under massive pressure, she announced her resignation after an inquiry appointed by the Executive Committee of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions concluded that she had harassed Yssen and that she and LO had violated several Norwegian labor laws.{{cite news |first=Jonathan |last=Tisdall |title=Valla steps down |url=http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1681892.ece |work=Aftenposten |date=9 March 2007 |accessdate=2008-06-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313183953/http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1681892.ece |archive-date=2007-03-13 }} Later in 2007 Valla published a book about the Valla affair, titled Prosessen (after Kafka's The Trial).[https://www.vg.no/nyheter/meninger/lo-dramaet/prosessen-mot-valla/a/176336/ Prosessen mot Valla] in Verdens Gang Also Torstein Tranøy and Ingunn Yssen published books about the affair.

Ivar Hippe was one of her political consultants when the controversy started.{{cite news | url = http://e24.no/naeringsliv/article1850444.ece?service=print | title = Coachet Valla | publisher = E24 Næringsliv | date = June 22, 2007 | accessdate = February 28, 2010}}

Literature

Gerd-Liv Valla: Prosessen, Cappelen Damm, Oslo, 2007, {{ISBN|8202275520}}, {{ISBN|9788202275525}}
Torstein Tranøy: Vallas fall: et innblikk i den skjulte maktkampen, Forlaget Manifest, Oslo, 2007, {{ISBN|9788292866023}}.
Ingunn Yssen: Vi kan alle bli den lille. Aschehoug 2009.
Bente Hessenschmidt Gundelsby: Kampen om definisjonsmakten: Politiske kommentatorers tolkningsrammer i Valla-saken, University of Oslo, 2008