Gathered at a congress on Sunday and Monday, the 326 representatives of the Transnet union - leading rail union with 230.000 members - elected Alexander Kirchner as their union's president. He's the third president of Transnet in one year. Mr. Kirschner will have to defend the 10% wage increase for 2009. He will also have to reassure the basis, worried about the privatization and the union's relations with the DB's management. (Ref. 080931)
If we are to believe Alexander Kirschner’s results on Monday – 96.3% of the votes of Transnet’s representatives – he really is, as one of his colleagues said, “The president of the heart.” Aged 52, he follows Lothar Krauss, a pale president for only six months. Until now, Mr. Kirschner was VP of the leading rail union. He is also one of Transnet’s specialists for collective bargaining. He will thus immediately have a lot to do, because collective bargaining in January 2009 (see our dispatch No.
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