Marius Ormestad (13 December 1874 – 28 May 1964) was a Norwegian trade unionist and civil servant. He chaired 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 ...

for eleven years, and was director of Oslo Trygdekasse for 33 years.

Personal life

Ingvald Marius Ormestad was born on 13 December 1874 at

Våle Våle is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2002. The area is now part of Tønsberg Municipality. The administrative centre was ...

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

. He was a son of

artisan An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...

and farmer Johan Christian Ormestad and Hanna Karine Ryg. His father operated as

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

and

watchmaker A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...

, in addition to running a small farm. Ormestad was married to Marie Kristoffersen from 1898 to 1913, and to Johanne Marie Nannestad from 1913.

Career

An instrument maker, Ormestad started working for the company

Elektrisk Bureau Elektrisk Bureau or EB was a Norwegian manufacturer of telecommunication equipment. It was founded in 1882 and lasted until 1993 when it became part of Asea Brown Boveri (ABB). The company was located at Billingstad in Asker. History In 1882 ...

(manufacturer of telecommunication equipment) in 1890. Being engaged in

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

activities in

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 ...

, he was elected to chairman of the

in 1898, and held this position until 1909, when he became secretary in

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 ...

for a couple of years. He was the first regularly paid leader of the Norwegian Union of Iron and Metalworkers, and thus the first fully professional union leader in Norway. He also edited the trade union magazine ''Metalarbeideren''. A central issue in the early 1900s was the principle of

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

for all workers, while the more skilled workers would be allowed to negotiate for higher wages. Politically he belonged to the Labour Party, of which he was vice chairman from 1903 to 1906. From 1902 to 1907, he served as a representative on Oslo City Council, and from 1905 he sat in the presidency. Ormestad was manager of Oslo Trygdekasse from 1911 to 1944 and was a board member of the National Insurance Administration from 1935 to 1942. He edited the magazine ''Sykeforsikringsbladet'' (later renamed ''Sosial Trygd'') from 1912 to 1945. He was decorated Knight, First Class of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

in 1938, and was Knight of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry founded on 29 May 1772 by Gustav III, King Gustav III. It is awarded to Swedish citizens for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. His ...

and of the

Order of Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known as ''White Knights'' t ...

. Ormestad died in Oslo on 28 May 1964.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ormestad, Marius 1874 births 1964 deaths People from Re, Norway Norwegian trade unionists Norwegian civil servants Knights of the Order of Vasa Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Norwegian magazine founders