Dagens Nyheter March 25, 2002
By Juan Flores and Nuri Kino
--
The Swedish used-clothes company UFF [Humana] today presents their new
board elected to wash off the sect mark. But Dagens Nyheter's
examination shows that the reorg in reality means that the Danish sect
the Teachers Group are tightening their hold on UFF.
The Teachers Group
UFF pretends to break with the Danish sect the Teachers Group. In
reality the movement increases its influence over UFF. Out in the UFF
stores you can see the effect of the last few weeks' headlines about UFF.
--
Today UFF introduces its new board of directors. UFF reorganizes in
order to wash off its sect mark. But it is just doing this to make a
show. In actual fact the sect called the Teachers Group are tightening
its hold on UFF.
DN has in a number of articles described how the Danish sect the
Teachers Group controls Swedish UFF. Now UFF has decided to make changes
to their boards. The aim is allegedly to prevent the members of the
Teachers Group to be in the majority. That is why UFF sacrifices both
Trond Narvestad and Thomas Gregersen, who both have been chairmen of UFF
and who both are members of the Danish sect.
Instead the Teachers Group is asking Carina Bolin, present chairman of
Humana in Italy, to come home, according to DN's sources. Today she is
announced the new chairman in Sweden.
Other people who are said to be in question for the new UFF board of
directors are Sven Dahne, Bo Wallin, Kristina Johansson, Mona Axelsson
and Annika Kleveman. Mona Axelsson, who is the representative of the
employees, believes that there will be changes.
- This is happening right now because everyone of the employees has
demanded a major change of the management and the board and they voted
me in. The Teachers Group being in the minority is unique. Now we are
running UFF and UFF is made up of its employees. We won't make any
decisions in the interest of the Teachers Group, she says.
But it's not that simple. It is true that on paper neither Dahne nor
Wallin - who is presently on the board - are members of the Teachers
Group, but they both have children who are deeply involved. Dahne has
three children who are members of the sect.
Neither Dahne nor Wallin have been known to question the Teachers Group.
Furthermore, the Danish woman Jytte Nielsen will become a member of the
Swedish UFF board. She is one of the tough, original members of the
Tvind movement, two steps down from the leader Mogens Amdi Petersen.
Nielsen is registered as the owner of several of the Tvind empire's
different companies and estates. All of this might mean that the reorg
presented by UFF as a separation from the Teachers Group actually is the
opposite, an increasing influence of the Teachers Group, despite the
fact that the two new board members - Axelsson and Kleveman - together
with Dahne and Wallin is in the majority on paper.
In order to complicate things further the Teachers Group will keep the
financial power - even on paper. The fact is that it is only in one of
the two UFF organizations constituting Swedish UFF that the Teachers
Group now will be in the minority - in the association called "UFF in
Sweden". As DN earlier has uncovered this is just a front organization.
The business is run by the association "UFF in Stockholm" - and in the
board of that organization the Teachers Group is still in the majority.
The board consists of the same persons as in the front organization,
with two exceptions: Kleveman and Dahne are not part of it.
This means that the Teachers Group has kept their right to make
decisions as regards the business itself. According to Axelsson this is
simply a coincidence.
- "UFF in Stockholm" is an association we didn't know you could join.
We
will work for a merger of the organizations.
The annual meeting also answered the question about who is a member of
UFF in Stockholm. All along the chairman has asserted that UFF is
independent of the Teachers Group and that it is an ordinary Swedish
association.
It was now evident that the majority of the members were Danes,
belonging to the Teachers Group. DN interviewed the new chairman Carina
Bolin some time ago.
- Yes, I am a member of the Teachers Group. I joined it in the early
80's, she said then.
She also explained that she kept in contact with the now arrested sect
leader, Amdi Petersen, even though she preferred not to talk about it
any further.