Lizette Risgaard (born 15 July 1960) is a Danish trade union leader. Born in

Nørrebro Nørrebro (, ) is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. It is northwest of the city centre, beyond the location of the old Northern Gate (''Nørreport''), which, until dismantled in 1856, was near the current N ...

, Risgaard grew up in a small house and found work as a cleaner. She moved to

Amager Amager ( ), located in the Øresund, is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 216,000 inhabitants (January 2022). The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (including Kalvebod Fælled) makes up more than one-third of the ...

, where she trained as an office assistant, while working part-time in a canteen. In 1980, she began working for the Danish Service Workers' Union, and was elected to the board of its youth organisation. She worked her way up to become president of the union, and also deputy president of the Capital Region branch of the

Danish Confederation of Trade Unions LO, The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions ( Danish: ''LO, Landsorganisationen i Danmark'' or simply ''LO'') was founded in 1898 and was an umbrella organisation (the largest of the three national trade union centers in Denmark) for 18 Danish ...

(LO) in 2000. In her spare time, she completed a

Masters in Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the i ...

. In 2007, Risgaard was elected as vice president of the LO. In this role, she became known for her successful campaign for

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...

to comply with Danish pay and working conditions for its staff based in the country. In 2015, she was elected as the president of LO, defeating Flemming Vinther of the Army Privates' and Corporals' Association, by 312 votes to 87. She was the first woman to lead the federation. As leader of the LO, Risgaard dismissed its four leading staff members, and instead made her own appointments to the post. She built a strong working relationship with the leaders of the Confederation of Professionals in Denmark, LO's main rival, and in 2019, the two merged to form the

Danish Trade Union Confederation The Danish Trade Union Confederation (, FH) is the largest National trade union center, national trade union centre in Denmark. On formation in 2019, it had 79 affiliated unions, with a total of 1.4 million members. History The confederation was ...

(FH), with Risgaard continuing as president. In 2023, Risgaard stepped down as president of FH following a series of revelations regarding inappropriate sexual behaviour on Risgaard's part. A documentary, ''Hjerter dame'', follows Risgaard as leader of the LO.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Risgaard, Lizette 1960 births Living people Danish trade union leaders Activists from Copenhagen