Swiss trade union sacks management board
Switzerland’s second largest trade union has sacked its President/CEO and two other senior managers following a long-running dispute between executives and the board of directors.
Arno Kerst, who held both the positions of president and CEO, was asked to leave the Syna trade union last week. He was followed out of the door by the union’s legal chief and its head of contract policy.
Syna, which represents 60,000 workers in the healthcare, hospitality, construction and retail industries, is appointing interim managers to carry out the daily functions of the union.
According to the trade union’s website, the post of Head of Marketing and Education is also vacant, leaving just the finance chief currently in situ.
Syna told the Keystone-SDA news agency that the departures were the result of “irreconcilable differences of opinion” that led to a “fundamental loss of mutual trust” between managers and directors.
The conflict over strategy, operational management and disagreements over the competencies of executives and directors had flared up in the spring.
The row led to delegates being asked for a vote of confidence in both bodies. More delegates voted for the board of directors, by a narrow margin.
The most pressing issue for Syna is to find a long-term replacement as President/CEO for Kerst, who had already signaled that he would not stand for re-election at the next delegates meeting in October.
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