A broad alliance for the welfare state
The up-building and development of the public sector and a comprehensive welfare state have been one of the most important instruments in order to achieve the equal distribution of wealth which we have achieved in Norway.
In September 1999 in Norway, a broad alliance of trade unions was established in order to strengthen the struggle against privatisation, deregulation and market liberalism - for a strong public sector. It was named «Campaign for the Welfare State», and the six unions involved represented all together near half a million members (there are 4,5 million inhabitants in Norway). A year later, another 20 national organisations have joined the alliance, almost doubling the number of members. The alliance is no longer limited to the trade union movement. Among the new affiliates we find user organisations, student organisations, retired peoples association, farmers and small-holders unions etc.
The social conflict in Europe has intensified strongly over the past couple of years, in the wake of the financial crisis. The labour and trade union movement has been on the defensive ever since the neoliberal offensive started around 1980. The balance of power in our societies has thus shifted enormously over the past 30 years – from labour to capital, from democracy to market forces. Time is ripe, therefore, to fight back, to build broad social alliances and to reassess our strategies and tactics. 
The Welfare Conference 2010 - Our Welfare Policies - is held at the Oslo Congress Centre 13-14 September 2010. 
At the ESF2010 The Campaign for the Welfare State held several seminars. One of them was on the topic of New Public Management and the Corporate Interests behind it. Here you can download the presentation made by Helene Bank. 
The processes which started with the first World Social Forum in Porto Alegre in Brazil in January 2001 injected new energy into the broad left. After twenty years of neo-liberal globalisation, set-backs, pessimism and demobilisation on the left in many countries and areas, the social forums created new enthusiasm, new working methods, new mobilisations and new inspiration for hundreds of thousands of people. 