Fritz Verzetnitsch passed away on 18 July 2024. He was ETUC President for 10 years between 1993 and 2003 and long-time President of Austria’s ÖGB.
“We pay tribute to a trade union leader who was committed to building workers’ power across Europe,” said Esther Lynch, ETUC General Secretary. “Our sympathy goes out to his wife, family and to the ÖGB.”
Verzetnitsch’s presidency oversaw major advances for social dialogue at EU level. Through European social partners’ framework agreements, the ETUC co-wrote the parental leave directive (1996), the parti-time work directive (1997) and the fixed-term work directive (1999) into EU legislation.
The ETUC itself grew during his term, opening towards ex-soviet countries. He himself was the first president to hail from a country outside of the EU. A total of 30 new national trade union centres from 16 countries affiliated during his time as president.