Leading trade unionist addresses crowd on Landsgemeindeplatz

Switzerland’s leading trade unionist, Paul Rechsteiner, was one of three guest speakers on the occasion of the celebration of May Day held on Landsgemeindeplatz in the city last Sunday.
 
Rechsteiner, who heads the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions and sits in the Council of States representing St Gallen in Bern, was joined by Luzian Franzini, the co-president of the Young Green Party of Switzerland, and Franz Stappung, the co-president of the SP party of Cham, to speak at the event, which is organised by trade unions and leftist parties.
 
Despite the cold and windy weather, a number of people gathered in this historic area in the Old Town to hear them speak on a number of matters, not just that of the main theme, which was to “fight together for a strong Old Age and Survivors’ Insurance,” more commonly known by its initials in German, namely AHV. He mentioned the initiative AHV Plus which was calling for a 10% rise in pensions, while at the same time accepting this would mean an increase in the wage contribution to 0.8%, “but this works out much cheaper than achieving the same result from pension fund sources,” he claimed. There had been criticism from the Young Liberal Party that trade unionists were misusing May Day celebrations to promote this AHV Plus initiative. Among the other topics discussed were the phasing out of nuclear energy and the lack of affordable accommodation.
 
All listened attentively as Rechsteiner, a qualified lawyer, began to speak. He did not beat about the bush and emphasised how he thought the setting-up of the AHV had been the greatest accomplishment of the 20^th century, after it had been fought for by previous generations for decades.
 
The 63-year-old also went on to talk about the relationship between Switzerland and Europe, the integration of refugees and age discrimination in the country. “We in Switzerland have enormous potential for solidarity,” he said, as he went on to mention that May Day was the only public holiday in Switzerland without religious origins, but which had come about as a result of great movement of men and women fighting for rights for all. “And these values are still important today,” he said. Looking ahead, he said that Switzerland was confronted by many difficult questions, the answers to which would be decisive for the future of the country.
 
After all three speakers had finished, members of the public were invited to have their say and a number took this once-in-a-year opportunity.
 
Also present on the occasion were Manuela Weichelt-Picard (on the left on the photograph), the only woman member of the cantonal government who heads the Department of Inner Cantonal Affairs, and mayor Dolfi Müller (on the right in the photograph with Rechteiner in the centre).
 
Tanja Schmidiger of Baar also attended. “I am very interested in political matters which is why I am here,” she explained. “It is very interesting to be able to discuss matters with those at the information stands, a number of whom have very extreme views,” she added.
 
Antonia Siegen from Zug also went along, even though she is not that interested in politics. “I was just curious to see what goes on here and to see who comes. I think it is both fascinating and important that people gather together in this way to promote their cause,” she said.
 
While it was a day off for most people, it was a hard working day for Rechsteiner, who went on to speak at gatherings in Bülach, Thun and Interlaken.