Less about billions and more about people

"I have to 'break it' for you so that you are prepared – the report that Mette and I are giving deviates slightly from the picture that Nordea's management often paints of our bank. The financial key figures are doing very well, but at Finansforbundet in Nordea we are experiencing several cracks in the glossy picture."

This was how president Kasper Skovgaard Pedersen began his and vice president Mette Balck Mejlby's report at Finansforbundet in Nordea's 34th Annual General Meeting, after which challenges with cost savings, the need for more acknowledgement, work pressure and cohesion were listed. 

Almost 400 members gathered in the hall at Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers to participate in Finansforbundet in Nordea's largest member meeting.

'Employees' workload is a risk'
In his report, Kasper Skovgaard Pedersen quoted Nordea's recently published annual report:

"Here it is stated in black and white in the risk analysis: The employees' workload is a risk. I'll take repeat it: 'the employees' workload is a risk.' So my question to the management is simple: What are you going to do about it?," asked the president, who pointed out that it does not make sense to give employees in several areas of the bank more work and at the same time make a 'headcount freeze'.

Core responsibility to challenge and communicate
Mette Balck Mejlby emphasised that members must never be in doubt that Finansforbundet in Nordea challenges and influences and conveys the members' messages in all the forums they have with Nordea's management.

"Also when it makes us unpopular – and we have been. That's perfectly fine. It is our core responsibility to challenge and communicate the employees' experiences.  The truth is in the nuances – and we must create it together. We encourage leaders to be given more leeway so that they can find solutions that suit them exactly – instead of a 'one size fits all' approach and top-down management. It's basically about showing trust," said Mette Balck Mejlby with great applause as a result.

We are ready
"As you know, we work in a bank that makes billions. We create value every day. And we want to continue to work for a bank we can be proud of," said Kasper Skovgaard Pedersen, urging the bank to be more ambitious on the employee front when it airs the idea of being 'best in class' or 'a little better every day':

"At Finansforbundet in Nordea, we believe that we can and must help shape the future. A future that not only contains a never-ending cost chase and an eternal race against the competition, but a future that is less about billions and more about people. Let's have a real dialogue about you, me, us and the future. A future we create together. It will be a stronger foundation for Nordea, but not least, a stronger and healthier foundation for us employees. We're ready – are you?"

Lively debate on all kinds of topics
The debate showed that the members were to that extent. For the first time since the corona pandemic, the Annual General Meeting was held as a purely physical event to make the debate livelier and more present. The members could therefore ask questions about all kinds of topics from their seats, inspired by the questions and comments that had been sent in in advance, as well as a word cloud that was created during the session.

The members asked about and commented on all sorts of topics from hybrid work, flexibility, work pressure, young people and seniors to wages, Zalaris, the collective agreement, People Pulse, skill development and the lack of opportunities to make a career in the Danish part of Nordea. There was applause, listening and learning, the energy bubbled in the hall, and the commitment was unmistakable.

Jakob Thorgaard, vice president of Finansforbundet, talked about the union's important and difficult work to get a standard collective agreement, and he revealed that his first bank job was at Nordea.

Uncontested elections across the board – and one new election
At the Annual General Meeting, there were uncontested elections for all positions. Kasper Skovgaard Pedersen was re-elected as president, and Jeppe Lermark Pieszak, Mette Balck Mejlby, Mona Svan and Natascha Bødker Feodor Nielsen were re-elected as board members. Louise Have Lund, Louise Naur and Ole Lund Jensen were elected to the board in 2024 for a two-year period and were thus not up for election this year, and this also applied to Marianne Bjørn Winther, who was elected as a deputy member one year ago and subsequently joined the board.

At a subsequent constitution, Mette was re-elected as vice president and Jeppe as treasurer. 

The only newly elected member was Erik Børsting, senior union representative in Technology, who was elected as the only deputy after Frederik Cramer had withdrawn his candidacy.

Luffe gave bingo
What do the The Skulderklap prize ('pat on the back'), Novo Nordisk, Nordea piggy bank Luffe and Rasmus Seebach have in common? All of them were part of a special bingo game, where the usual numbers were replaced with logos, flags, pictures, words and calculations, and where the members fought – and collaborated – bravely to win the coveted prizes.

After shouting 'bingo' for the last time, it was time for silent disco, where the members, depending on the colour of their headphones, could dance to three different genres, while others wanted to talk, socialize and discuss until the small hours.

The community of colleagues surely showed its value when it is mostly about people!