2023-06-28 14:20:15
– Henrique Schneider loses the power struggle
The designated director of the trade association is definitely not allowed to take office. President Fabio Regazzi has prevailed in the trade parliament.
Published: Jun 28, 2023 4:20 PMUpdated 10 hours ago
The allegations of plagiarism were his undoing: Henrique Schneider.
Photo: PD
The struggle for power at the Swiss Trade Association was fierce. Both sides have been lobbying intensively in recent days. Now the parliament of the association, the chamber of commerce, has decided. And the winner is Fabio Regazzi. The Chamber of Commerce supported him and the other board members in a consultative vote with 53 to 13 votes. She confirms their decision to revoke the election of Henrique Schneider as director. Although this Chamber of Commerce unanimously elected the 45-year-old tailor to this office in February.
But then came the plagiarism scandal. In the “NZZ am Sonntag” the Austrian plagiarism researcher Stefan Weber raised the “reasonable suspicion of serious scientific misconduct” against the current deputy director of the trade association. The board of the association then had an expert opinion drawn up and entrusted the Zurich titular professor Isabelle Häner with the task.
She confirmed “serial plagiarism” in the works of Henrique Schneider and classified this as misconduct and a breach of duty of loyalty. The latter is not serious, however, since the trade association is not a scientific company. At least that’s what the board of directors said. He did not publish the report himself.
But it was clear to him that Schneider could no longer become director under these circumstances. Credibility is the association’s greatest asset, which is why the board revoked Schneider’s election. Of course, not everyone in the association agreed with this. A number of members of the chamber of commerce felt left out. They complained that they had the power to elect and vote out the director. A good dozen therefore had an extraordinary chamber meeting convened.
He prevailed: trade association president Fabio Regazzi.
Photo: Keystone
This took place this Wednesday afternoon. President Fabio Regazzi and the board were able to prevail. According to Regazzi, the decision legitimizes the board and strengthens the credibility of the association. His position was also strengthened. He will now probably look for a director who acts less gruffly than the previous Hans-Ulrich Bigler and Henrique Schneider, who was called off. Regazzi has already started the search.
For the time being, he has to decide who should head the association on an interim basis in the coming weeks and months. Bigler is out of the question. The relationship between him and the President is too poisoned. That shows an e-mail that Bigler sent out this week. In it he writes: “In order to at least maintain decency and respect on my part, I say goodbye to you as director today on my last day at work.” The fact that the President and the Board of Directors did not consider “a word of thanks” to be necessary “frankly surprised me, but I do not need to comment further at this point,” says Bigler.
Now he resigns. And Henrique Schneider probably too in the medium term. However, the deputy director’s employment has not yet been terminated. Schneider declined to say on Wednesday whether he would like to stay. He may also take legal action against the trade association because he feels he has been treated unfairly.
Better cooperation with Economiesuisse
When choosing the new director, Fabio Regazzi will make sure that the trade association harmonises better with economiesuisse and the employers’ association in the future. The two other umbrella organizations of the economy often had difficulties with Bigler. Accordingly, the decision of the Chamber of Commerce is being noted with pleasure.
Regazzi thanked the outgoing director in a press release on Wednesday evening – “for his tireless commitment to Swiss SMEs and his great achievements over the last 15 years”.
Dispute over trade association directorIwan Städler is domestic editor. Previously, he was a member of the Tamedia editorial board and editor-in-chief of the “Tags-Anzeiger”. He is the winner of the Zurich Journalist Award.More information@Iwan_Staedler
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