Young Trade Unionists on Summer Patrol in Norway

The Summer Patrol is an LO youth organised recruitment campaign that has been in operation since 1985. The patrol is run on a national and regional basis, with each region working to organise its own itinerary. The aim of the patrol is to organise existing young trade unionists as part of a three week campaign to engage and recruit young people entering the world of work for the first time. 


The Summer Patrol is an annual conversation about unions, working conditions, and the rights of young people at work, and is a huge awareness raising opportunity for the trade union movement.

Our delegates were amazed by the high level of young activist participation in the three week long event. For the entire week in which the TUC Yorkshire delegation was there, around 15-20 young Norwegian trade unionists participated in a county with a population of 280,000 people. The Norwegian young activists had all given up their time, most of them taking the week off work (some booking the time off as holiday leave), to travel around and check up on young workers in their county.

They were able to do this, in part because of union ‘buy-in’. Individual unions paid for their members to take part in the patrol. The Yorkshire delegates were happy to discover that many unions actually paid their activists a daily stipend for taking part, which covered their costs whilst they were away. This clearly showed the appreciation unions have for their young activists, as well as an acknowledgement of the value of their work for the union whilst on patrol.

Overall, the trip was incredibly interesting and inspiring. Throughout, the Yorkshire delegates discussed the differences between the Norwegian system and the UK’s, and the ways we could replicate and adapt it to our region.

Two of the participants have written reports of their experiences. You can read them below.