Success in the comPlan Elections: syndicom Remains Strong
syndicom remains strongly represented on the comPlan Board of Trustees: Giorgio Pardini and Pia Bucher-Lustenberger were reelected, and Susanne Krüger was newly elected. Together, they will advocate for the interests of the insured and for a social and forward-looking occupational pension system over the next four years.
Strong Employee Representation on the comPlan Board of Trustees
Success: syndicom remains a strong voice for employees on the comPlan Board of Trustees!
We congratulate Giorgio Pardini (incumbent), Pia Bucher (incumbent), and Susanne Krüger (newly elected) on their election!
Re-election and New Election to the comPlan Board of Trustees
A strong signal in support of employees’ interests: Giorgio Pardini and Pia Bucher-Lustenberger were re-elected, while Susanne Krüger was newly elected to the comPlan Board of Trustees. Together, they will champion the interests of the insured over the next four years and advocate for fair benefits as well as a socially responsible and forward-looking pension fund. We warmly congratulate the elected members on their victory.
Broad Support for the Candidates
This result would not have been possible without the support of numerous members and dedicated advocates. Many helped with the campaign, informed and mobilized their coworkers, and cast their votes. We extend our heartfelt thanks for this.
A Mandate for Fair Pensions and Solidarity-Based Retirement Benefits
The election results show that strong employee representation on decision-making bodies remains crucial. The trust placed in the candidates is also a mandate to continue advocating vigorously for fair pensions and solidarity-based occupational retirement benefits.
Together, syndicom remains a strong voice for comPlan’s insured members.
The comPlan Board of Trustee elections
Key decisions affecting all Swisscom employees and comPlan retirees are made by the comPlan Board of Trustees. These decisions shape wages, retirement benefits, and social security. Therefore, the union must have a strong voice on the Board of Trustees.
You can read here about what the comPlan Board of Trustees does.
As a union, we consistently prioritize the interests of employees and retirees.
The syndicom candidates for the comPlan elections introduce themselves
(standing, from left to right): Michelle Crapella, Frédéric Horner, Teresa Dos Santos Lima-Matteo, Daniel Jakob, Susanne Krüger, (seated) Giorgio Pardini, Pia Bucher-Lustenberger
Giorgio Pardini (incumbent)
*1958 | Position: President of comPlan, former Head of ICT Sector at syndicom | Active on: Swiss Senior Citizens’ Council
«For years, I have been committed to ensuring a robust occupational pension system: fair interest rates on retirement savings, maintaining the bridging pension, securing cost-of-living adjustments for pensioners, and adapting benefits to meet the evolving needs of insured individuals. I intend to continue to advocate tirelessly for these issues over the next four years. That is why I am running again for the comPlan Board of Trustees.»
Pia Bucher-Lustenberger (incumbent)
*1965 | Position: Engagement Manager at Swisscom | Active on: Swisscom Board of Directors, comPlan pension fund Board of Trustees
«I am committed to ensuring that our retirement savings are managed responsibly and sustainably!»
Teresa Dos Santos Lima-Matteo (new)
*1971 | Position: Head of ICT Sector | Active in: ICT Sector management, Member of the Management Board at syndicom
«I stand for social partnership: Swisscom should continue to make above-average contributions to your retirement savings!»
Michelle Crapella (new)
*1980 | Position: ICT Operation Manager III | Active on: Swisscom Board of Directors, ICT Sector Board and syndicom Central Executive Board
«My pension matters to me – and no doubt to you as well! I’m fighting for strong investments!»
Frédéric Horner (new)
*1996 | Position: EMM Engineer, Swisscom | Active as: former youth representative for the Fribourg section of syndicom
«It is important to me that younger generations and French-speaking Switzerland are represented on the Foundation Board. Swisscom is much more than just an employer to me: my relatives work there, as does my best friend, and one of my dearest colleagues is retiring next year. Swisscom is my family—and I am fully committed to it.»
Daniel Jakob (new)
*1970 | Position: Key Account Manager at Swisscom Broadcast | Active as: Representative at Swisscom Broadcast
«We must ensure good retirement provisions for everyone, and we must do so today!»
Susanne Krüger (new)
*1981 | Position: Dev Ops Engineer | Active in: CLA Strategy Group, Swisscom Switzerland Board of Directors
«No half measures: more interest, more security, more for you.»
The syndicom candidates, as employee representatives on the comPlan Board of Trustees, advocate for these issues
1. High-performing and fair pensions
- Strengthening the performance target with the conversion rate and technical interest rate factors.
- Above-average interest rates on retirement savings.
- Stable and fair risk benefits in the event of disability and death.
2. Swisscom is committed to
- Disproportionate financing of contributions by Swisscom.
- Relief from wage deductions for policyholders.
- Protection of low and middle incomes by waiving the coordination deduction.
3. Returns for policyholders, not asset managers
- Strict control of asset management costs.
- Transparency in the awarding of contracts to service providers.
- Strong long-term returns at low costs
4. Sustainable and responsible investment
- Continue to strictly apply ESG criteria – with a focus on ESG impact.
- No investments in fossil energies without a transformation strategy, nor in armaments and tobacco, nor in companies and states with significant human rights violations.
- Shareholders should actively use their voting rights – for greater climate protection and good working conditions.
5. Strengthening social justice in the pension system
- Secure bridging pensions for early retirement.
- Further develop partial retirement and phased retirement models.
- Pensioners’ participation when the threshold for available funds is reached.
6. Strong social partnership instead of unilateral power
- Continued strong union representation on the comPlan Board of Trustees.
- Strengthening the close integration of the pension fund, collective labor agreement, and social plan.
- Should comPlan encounter difficulties, fair restructuring solutions with significant participation from Swisscom.
7. Transparency, control, and genuine participation
- Clear communication regarding investments, services, costs, and risks.
- Independent experts and auditors.
- Disclosure of key performance indicators and investment decisions.
comPlan – Your direct participation
Occupational pension provision (2nd pillar) is a component of salary and a form of social insurance. It is not a financial product. Swisscom is highly profitable and expects above-average performance from its employees. Therefore, Swisscom should continue to clearly commit to a pension scheme that is disproportionately financed by the employer and offers employees significantly more than the statutory minimum.
The Federal Constitution is unequivocal on this issue: «Occupational pension provision, together with the AHV (old-age and survivors’ insurance), should enable the continuation of the accustomed standard of living in an appropriate manner (Art. 113 of the Federal Constitution).» We take this constitutional mandate seriously. The policyholders’ money should not be used to finance losses, but rather to secure the future.
For this reason, syndicom’s representation on the Board of Trustees has successfully advocated for years for the implementation of ESG criteria in the company’s investments. Furthermore, retirees should participate in the successful business performance of comPlan, as legally mandated.
Attack on union involvement with comPlan
It was a bombshell dropped by Swisscom’s Board of Directors at the beginning of the year: they wanted to reduce the Board of Trustees from 14 to 10 members. This would have reduced employee representation from seven to five seats, meaning syndicom would have had a maximum of only one seat instead of two. This was clearly a move motivated by power and finances with personnel and financial consequences.
- It would have resulted in a clear shift of power from employees to employers.
- Employees would have been burdened with costs of up to 80 million Swiss francs annually.
syndicom’s representatives on the Board of Trustees were able to fend off this attack for the time being. This makes a strong showing by the syndicom candidates in the September Board of Trustee elections all the more important.
