From cable factory worker to Norway’s LO President

Kine Asper Vistnes (48) was actually slated to be the new leader of the United Federation of Trade Unions – Fellesforbundet – but when the favourite to become the new LO leader, Jørn Eggum (also from the same federation), pulled out, pressure mounted on Vistnes to step up. At first, she said no. Then she said yes.

Kine Asper Vistnes (left) is being congratulated by outgoing LO President Peggy Hessen Følsvik.  

Now, she is the new LO President, elected by 315 delegates at the LO Congress at Folkets Hus in Oslo during the second week of May.

Never before have there been this many changes to the LO leadership. Seven out of nine people now have no leadership experience from within the organisation which represents more than one million people. 

A historic first

Kine Asper Vistnes was deputy leader of Fellesforbundet, LO’s largest federation representing the private sector, and has been part of the leadership since 2013. She made history in 2022 as the federation’s first female deputy leader, 

Now, she is LO’s fourth female President since the year 2000.

Kine Asper Vistnes grew up in Lørenskog, a municipality near Oslo. When she was 16, she began studying agriculture in upper secondary school. Her plan was to become a farmhand, but a summer spent working at the cable manufacturer Nexans took her down a different path.

There, she was elected to be a trade union rep for Fellesforbundet, and that is where her journey into the trade union movement began. She has been working locally and nationally and is very experienced with issues like collective agreement bargaining.

Busy in her spare time

Outside of politics, her CV is rather untypical for an LO leader. Vistnes has been one of Norway’s top female motocross riders, with a podium finish in the Norwegian Cup and a victory at the Gotland Grand National. She has also been a driving force in getting more girls to get involved in motorsports.

She currently lives in Tjøtta in Helgeland with her husband. When she is not commuting weekly to Oslo, she enjoys hunting, fishing and riding her motorbike in the forest.

Next task: win the parliamentary election

The first big test for the LO President will be the election campaign leading up to Norway’s parliamentary elections on 8 September. She says this is a fight she will undertake with the full support of LO.

The new LO President gets a hug from Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Labour). And just to be clear: The new LO President is a Labour member.  

She signaled a fight against the political right already from the congress podium and called on people to mobilise for a red-green victory this autumn.

“We have to keep Sylvi Lishaug (Progress Party) and Erna Solberg (Conservatives) far away from the government offices. This is about working people’s wallets, security and welfare,” she told the LO congress.

Vistnes has been criticised for her sharp statements against the Conservatives and the Progress Party. She has told the media that she can handle the criticism.

“It’s a picturesque way of putting it, really. So I stand firmly by it. We have a clear policy for working people and their interests. 

“It's fine for people to have different party political preferences, but our policy is crystal clear – people should get better working conditions and better conditions in society as a whole,” she told the state broadcaster NRK.