Liv Undheim started her working life at Figgjo, the porcelain manufacturer. Here she worked for thirteen years in production. After that she worked for nine years as union secretary for the then Norwegian Chemical Union. She went on to be secretary for LO, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions, as part of the congress-elected leadership for 12 years.

In 2001, she became vice president of her own union, the Norwegian Chemical Union. She stayed on as VP in Industri Energi following the merger with NOPEF in September 2006, until she stepped down at the union’s first ordinary national congress in October 2010. Liv had the day-to-day responsibility for the union’s international activities.

Liv Undheim will be deeply missed. Foto: TM

Liv Undheim also served as vice president of ICEM (the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers Union), an office she held for many years.

Liv has held an impressive number of offices in public bodies and agencies, such as Fafo, the Sparebank1 Group, she was on the board of the LO fund, the Folkets Hus national union, Sørmarka, Hovedorganisasjonenes fellestiltak, as well as the European Movement. She has been on the board of the Labour Directorate and the Labour Inspection Authority and has also been state secretary appointed by the Labour Party in the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

-Following her long and devoted service to the labour union movement we all felt with all our hearts that Liv had deserved a long and pleasant retirement together with her dear Elisabeth. The holiday to Thailand was booked and she was looking forward to spending her time reading, travelling and generally enjoying life. Instead she was struck down with cancer, having to spend her last days in hospital. It seems so unfair. She will be deeply missed, says Leif Sande, union president of Industri Energi.

The funeral is set for Thursday, 14 April at 1.30 pm at Østre Krematorium (Helsfyr) in Oslo. A commemoration will take place at Oslo Congress Centre after the funeral.