LINZ. Nobody has been President of the Chamber of Labor Upper Austria (AK) for as long as Johann Kalliauer: After 18 years, he will resign from his position at the end of November. The 68-year-old announced this on Monday. He will have been in office a year longer than Fritz Freyschlag (1982 to 1999).
The election of the successor of Kalliauer will take place at the AK general assembly in Linz, which will take place on Friday 23./24. or 24./25. November is scheduled. Whoever becomes the new boss has to “make up the new force,” said Kalliauer. He does not want to “play head teacher”. The committees will discuss in the next few days.
The ON had already reported a year and a half ago that Kalliauer was leaving in the middle of the current period. The current president and the big unions had agreed on a kind of half-time solution. Yesterday he informed the committees of the Social Democratic Unionists (FSG) group, the other groups and employees of his final decision. Today the AK board decides on the agenda for the general assembly. Kalliauer emphasized yesterday that he would have wanted to resign before the 2019 AK election. But the policy of the then turquoise-blue federal government persuaded him and the FSG committees to stay longer.
“And recently I have noticed that I am enjoying it more and more – especially in the last year,” said Kalliauer, referring to the establishment of the Corona Foundation with the Chamber of Commerce, State and AMS or the “Future Days” on the subject of digitization : “There is of course the risk that you will miss the right time to exit.” The house is well positioned, so he is now handing over political leadership to younger hands.
Chairman of the supervisory board at BBRZ
Kalliauer no longer wants to be politically active, but rather to enjoy the garden, cooking, hiking, cycling. He will hand over the state chairmanship of the GB at the end of January / beginning of February. He advises that one person should continue to lead AK and GB. Kalliauer still has a “career jump” ahead of her. At the turn of the year he will be on the board of directors of the BBRZ Group. Boss to chairman.
The reactions to his departure were benevolent – also from the Chamber of Commerce (WK), with whom Kalliauer had a torn relationship for years, but which has recently improved. WK President Doris Hummer: “Above all, I am pleased that the social partnership in Upper Austria has gained a lot of momentum this year and has also found its way back to the style,” which is based on mutual respect.
Governor Thomas Stelzer (VP) said that “although we did not always have the same views, we always had the same view of the most important things: our state and jobs”. AAB regional chairwoman Christine Haberlander emphasized that Kalliauer “has made a name for herself in the continuous further development of the advisory and support offers”. SP country chief Birgit Gerstorfer: “In the past few months in particular, it was thanks to the outgoing AK President that many people were able to keep their jobs despite the health and economic crisis.” (az)
