NITO boom in the Tax Administration: Trondheim leads the way
The Norwegian Tax Administration recently celebrated 400 NITO members. Growth in Trondheim has really accelerated. Union representative Torbjørn Langland believes the key is visibility, support and a good professional and social community.
When NITO's business group in the Tax Administration in Trondheim was established in 2023, they were only a handful. In June 2026, they can count 34 members. The growth reflects both a strong commitment to the IT environment in Trondheim and a clear message: It pays to be unionized.
Torbjørn Langland is a union representative in Trondheim and works in IT as a full-stack developer. He says that a good part of the growth has come through the fact that the IT environment in the Tax Administration in Trondheim has grown strongly.
- When I started, there were about 15 of us in IT here. Now we are over 70, and the environment is still growing," he says.
Here they work with everything from the tax return and public-oriented solutions to security, automation and seamless systems that will make large public solutions talk better together.
Langland believes it makes a difference that NITO is visible in the workplace.
- It's nice to be more. When new employees see that there is an active group, it becomes easier to understand what membership means in practice," he says.
Why more people choose NITO in the Tax Administration
According to Langland, membership is first and foremost about having a support system around you. This applies both to questions of salary, working environment and career, but also if a difficult situation should arise.
- Be unionized so that you have someone who can follow you up, work to ensure that you get the salary increase you need and who supports you if you end up in a conflict with your boss, says Langland.
- For example, we remind our members of the opportunity you have to get a salary adjustment after you have been employed for one year. And we are aware of training members in having salary discussions. An annual salary review with the employer is an important point of contact, he says.
The business group in Trondheim is working actively to get new members. They are visible in everyday life, talk to new employees, arrange member activities and highlight concrete benefits. It was at the department in Trondheim that the Tax Administration got member no. 400. Then it was cake from NITO.
They are happy to set up a NITO stand and tempt with goodie bags for new employees. There is a low threshold for contacting the union representatives in NITO if there is anything.
What membership benefits do you get with a trade union?
He is happy to talk about mortgage offers you get as a NITO member at Nordea, and that with a credit card from Nordea, four entrances to the airport lounge are included per year. The travel-loving union representative has used the latter several times himself and adds: - The airport in Amsterdam has a fantastic lounge with a buffet and hot food, but steer clear of the one in Osaka because there you only get bread and peanuts.
For Langland, visibility and member care are important. Being present, taking people seriously and showing that NITO membership has value in everyday work and in life in private life. He hopes the growth in Trondheim can inspire more people to build larger business groups elsewhere in the Tax Administration as well, but also in completely different types of businesses.
