Arnt Aamodt (1 October 1871 – 22 July 1936) was a Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party. He was best known as treasurer of the

Norwegian Union of Iron and Metalworkers The Norwegian Union of Iron and Metalworkers (, NJMF) was a trade union representing workers in the metal industry, workshops, and shipbuilding in Norway. The union was founded in 1891, and in 1905 it joined the Norwegian Confederation of Trade ...

from 1908 to 1931.

Early life

He was born in

Fet The field-effect transistor (FET) is a type of transistor that uses an electric field to control the current through a semiconductor. It comes in two types: junction FET (JFET) and metal-oxide-semiconductor FET (MOSFET). FETs have three termi ...

. As a young man he moved to

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

, where he started as a mechanic at Myrens Verksted in 1892. He joined the Mechanics Association and by extension the

Career

He was a member of the secretariat of the

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (, 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 unions affiliated to the LO have almo ...

from 1907, and served as treasurer of the Union of Iron and Metalworkers from 1908 to 1931. Aamodt was a member of Oslo city council for six years, and a central board member of the Labour Party for one period. Eventually, Aamodt came under attack from a communist opposition in his union. In 1929, he was accused of obfuscating the accounts. Investments done by the union also came under scrutiny. A formal motion to replace Aamodt because he was a

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, garnered 30 votes, but not a majority. Josef Larsson emerged as a leading critic, and spearheaded an internal scrutinizing committee. More of the criticism turned towards expenses for food, drinks and representation that Aamodt and the union leader Alfred Melgaard had spent. A power struggle broke out, lasting until 1931. At the Mechanics Association congress that year, a formal motion was lodged to exclude Aamodt from the union. Shortly after, the Union of Iron and Metalworkers held their congress. Historian Finn Olstad called the congress a palace revolution, where Aamodt and Melgaard were accused for "promoting fascism", but also defended for their meticulous bookkeeping. Although Aamodt took the chair and defended himself, in the end he faced the reality that his period of treasurer was over. A solution was crafted in the backrooms, in which Melgaard and Aamodt were allowed to "retire". The congress formally decided to clear them of any allegations, in a 52–42 vote, and granted them an annual pension of though an 84–34 vote. Josef Larsson was not able to gather enough support to become the new leader, nor treasurer, but did get elected as secretary with a 59–57 vote. Aamodt was also a board member of ''Arbeidernes landsbank'' and ''Norsk forening for sosialt arbeid''. He died at the age of 64.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aamodt, Arnt 1874 births 1936 deaths People from Fet, Norway Politicians from Oslo Norwegian trade unionists Labour Party (Norway) politicians