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29 October, 2000Congress supports closer cooperation with the building workers' union.
SWITZERLAND: Following a long and lively debate at the Congress of the Swiss metalworkers' union SMUV/FTMH on October 27-28, 2000, in Fribourg, delegates elected Renzo Ambrosetti as the union's new president.
Trained as a lawyer and speaking Switzerland's three main languages - German, French and Italian, the 47-year-old Ambrosetti is a man close to the grassroots. He became union secretary in the canton of Tessin in 1978 and joined the Executive Board of the SMUV/FTMH in 1994. He takes the helm from Christiane Brunner, who, after serving two four-year terms as president of the union, has recently been elected to lead the Swiss Socialist Party.
In Congress debate, a large majority of delegates gave their support to the project of an interprofessional trade union aimed at closer cooperation with the Industry and Building Workers' Union (SIB/GBI). With a view to developing cooperation in the field of trade union policy, the metalworkers agreed that a common platform would be worked out and presented to a delegates' assembly of the two federations before the end of 2002. This project was also adopted by the SIB/GBI Congress, which was held on the same dates in Lucerne.
The newly-elected Ambrosetti reiterated to the Congress his own support for the project of an interprofessional trade union but clearly said that he was opposed to a merger with the SIB/GBI.
Trained as a lawyer and speaking Switzerland's three main languages - German, French and Italian, the 47-year-old Ambrosetti is a man close to the grassroots. He became union secretary in the canton of Tessin in 1978 and joined the Executive Board of the SMUV/FTMH in 1994. He takes the helm from Christiane Brunner, who, after serving two four-year terms as president of the union, has recently been elected to lead the Swiss Socialist Party.
In Congress debate, a large majority of delegates gave their support to the project of an interprofessional trade union aimed at closer cooperation with the Industry and Building Workers' Union (SIB/GBI). With a view to developing cooperation in the field of trade union policy, the metalworkers agreed that a common platform would be worked out and presented to a delegates' assembly of the two federations before the end of 2002. This project was also adopted by the SIB/GBI Congress, which was held on the same dates in Lucerne.
The newly-elected Ambrosetti reiterated to the Congress his own support for the project of an interprofessional trade union but clearly said that he was opposed to a merger with the SIB/GBI.