Friedrich Verzetnitsch

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fritz Verzetnitsch (2011)

Frederick "Fritz" Verzetnitsch (* 22. May 1945 in Vienna ) was an Austrian politician and OGB - union official . He belongs to the SPÖ .

Youth and education

Fritz Verzetnitsch grew up in simple circumstances in Vienna. From 1951 to 1955 he attended an elementary school in the Soviet part of the city, then secondary school. He learned the profession of gas and water pipeline installer, which he also practiced until 1970. From 1970 he was an employee of the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions . From 1973 to 1981 he was youth secretary, from 1983 to 1987 senior secretary of the ÖGB.

Verzetnitsch as ÖGB president

In 1987 Anton Benya resigned from his position as ÖGB President after more than twenty years. The union leadership changed generations and elected the 42-year-old Verzetnitsch as president. From 1993 to 2003 he also held the office of President of the European Trade Union Confederation .

Verzetnitsch in the SPÖ

From 1985, Verzetnitsch was a member of the federal executive committee, later of the federal party presidium of the SPÖ. After two years in the Federal Council , Verzetnitsch became a member of the National Council in 1986 . Today he is a "simple party member".

BAWAG affair and resignation

In March 2006 it became known that the bank BAWAG, owned by the ÖGB, was close to bankruptcy in autumn 2000. The bank had suffered enormous losses from speculative business in tax havens in the Caribbean. To avert possible bankruptcy, Verzetnitsch assumed liability for the bank's liabilities on behalf of the ÖGB by pledging the so-called strike fund of the ÖGB. He did this together with ÖGB CFO Günter Weninger - who was also BAWAG's supervisory board chairman - without informing the executive committee of the ÖGB. Since the bankruptcy could be averted, the liability never became effective. However, the ÖGB suffered considerable financial disadvantages when the BAWAG shares were bought back a little later by the former co-owner Bayerische Landesbank , as BAWAG was valued too highly due to the disguised losses.

As a result of the scandal, Fritz Verzetnitsch resigned from all his union and political functions on March 27, 2006 - and was dismissed without notice by the ÖGB on April 30. Rudolf Hundstorfer , the chairman of the union of community employees , took over the function of the ÖGB president. In the course of the BAWAG affair , the ÖGB submitted a statement of facts to the public prosecutor on June 16, 2006. The former ÖGB President Verzetnitsch is among those reported.

The following procedures have not yet been completed as of May 2015.

Awards

literature

Web links

Commons : Fritz Verzetnitsch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ AVB Holding's damages litigation against Fritz Verzetnitsch [1] Der Standard, July 4, 2013
  2. Court failure for Verzetnitsch. In: diePresse.com. "Die Presse" Digital GmbH & Co KG, July 1, 2009, accessed on July 6, 2009 .
  3. Fritz Verzetnitsch: "I take political responsibility" http://wirtschaftsblatt.at/home/nachrichten/newsletter/4736949/Fritz-Verzetnitsch_Politische-Verendung-ubernehme-ich ( Memento from July 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Wirtschaftsblatt, 22. May 2015
  4. List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)