Customs staff
Jean-Luc Addor is the UDC wolf in the union sheepfold
By taking the head of Garanto, Valaisan becomes the first representative of his party to take the lead of a union at the Swiss level. Interview.
Jean-Luc Addor, National Councilor (UDC/VS), and now president of the GARANTO union.
Madeleine Stair
- Jean-Luc Addor was elected president of Garanto, responsible for defending customs staff.
- It is the first UDC at the head of a union at the national level.
- A challenge he considers consistent with his political fight to defend borders.
- The elected Valaisan believes that its political color can make it possible to expand the base of the supports when it will be necessary to defend the interests of the customs staff.
Jean-Luc Addor, was becoming the boss of a union being one of your career plans?
No. But this is part of the continuity of my political commitment.
How so?
I am one of those who believe in the usefulness of the borders. On the one hand, there is the security aspect, including control of migration. On the other, the commercial aspect, while we are in full tax war. When we think of customs staff, we first think of uniform agents; But the majority are civilian personnel in particular responsible for the collection of customs duties, which report around 23 billion, an important part of the federal budget. These professions are essential, because the borders, whether physical or virtual, protect the key sectors of our economy.
How did a UDC elected official as you find president of Garanto?
I have long been in contact with customs, notably thanks to a friend border guard member of the UDC in Valais Romand. She regularly signals the inconsistencies of our party to me: on the one hand, we claim more border controls, And on the other, we vote budget cuts that affect customs staff. This contradiction sometimes despairs me. It pushed me to take an interest in this function, even if everything was played on a competition of circumstances.
What competition of circumstances?
One day, in the restaurant wagon between Visp and Bern, a man sat in front of me, greeted me and released the newspaper “Garanto”. We started to discuss. I asked him who was the president of the union, and he replied that he had not been there for a year and a half. Then, the events went on thanks to this friend of the UDC, who also sits on the Garanto Romandie committee. She organized a meeting with the committee, which decided to support my candidacy. Then everything went very quickly Until my election.
One has the impression that everything has passed like a letter to the post office. However, you arrive in a socialist bastion. Wasn’t there any resistance?
At the start, there were two unions: that of border guards and that of customs staff. Garanto gathered them, first with internal presidents, then with external figures like Christian Levratthen Sarah Wyss. Both were socialist parliamentarians during their presidency. But I’m not sure that we can talk about a left bastion, even if I was in competition with a socialist elected official (Editor’s note: the national councilor Emmanuel Amoos). My goal is now to bring together and recruit to defend and promote the working conditions of all OFDF staff (Federal Office for Customs and Border Safety).
You are not going to tell us that the unions are not on the left!
Historically, we can actually consider that the organizations grouped within the Swiss union union are an emanation, on the union level, of the workers’ movement. This is why we can imagine that the USS must follow a strategy close to that of the PS. I do not share this vision. A union like I guarantee defends specific interests. This does not mean that I hear rider alone. However, I want to emphasize, without ideology, on the own interests of customs staff, on their status and working conditions and salary.
Will your election change the union line?
I don’t think I was elected to make a revolution. It’s not my goal either. But it is true that the interests of customs staff do not always coincide with those of the entire staff of the Confederation. There are several trades within the OFDF: some work in office, others in the field, exposed to cold, rain, and risk their life day and night. They experience different realities and therefore have distinct interests to defend.
For example?
In 2019, the retirement age was brought to 65 years for all federal employees, when border guards could hitherto leaving earlier and benefiting from a transitional pension funded by the Confederation. This is a typical example where their particular situation has been ignored, because union negotiations concerned all federal staff.
Jean-Luc Addor: “A majority is impossible without the voices of bourgeois elected officials.”
Madeleine Stair
What priorities have you set yourself as a president?
The biggest challenge is the situation of federal finances, in particular the linear budget cuts planned to save money. All federal staff are concerned, including that of OFDF. However, for me, the border must remain a priority. You cannot cut blind when the lack of workforce is glaring and the status is no longer as attractive as before. To defend the working conditions of customs staff is to defend the interest of the country.
Do you think your political color will be able to expand support? At one point, you have to vote yes or no.
This is exactly what I said to the Garanto delegates. To defend their interests, it is not enough to have a strong left minority, it takes a majority. However, this is impossible without voices of bourgeois elected officials. If the presence of a personality like mine at the head of the union can reach a few supports from the center and the right, this can make the difference. Sometimes it is played with a few voices.
By taking up this union, do you think you have to change your political line? On the right, we rather defend the bosses; On the left, employees.
I am a business lawyer and I used to defend everyone. In addition, I am part of the more social wing of the UDC, which is very present in French -speaking Switzerland. I will not need to influence my political line.
On some votes, you may still get your ears out by Thomas Aeschi, the leader of the UDC group?
It has already happened to me. But you know, I’m 61 years old. I’ve been elected in Bern for ten years. It is not because it is blowing against me that I will deviate from a thoughtful position. I am convinced that some colleagues from my party will be sensitive to this cause, precisely in coherence with our speech on borders.
Garanto is a member of the USS, which is led by Pierre-Yves Maillard. Will you become accountable to him?
No, it will not be my boss. The Swiss Union Union brings together several autonomous unions. Sometimes you have to unite your forces to weigh in front of employers. But the ridge must also respect the autonomy of member organizations. However, I reassure those who believe that Garanto will get out of the USS with my election: it is neither my goal nor that of those who trusted me.
Did Pierre-Yves Maillard ever congratulate you?
Non.
At 61, is this chairmanship of Garanto your last political cartridge?
I don’t know. It is a challenge that I find important and interesting to take up. I am currently at the head of Protell (Editor’s note: association that campaigns for a liberal right on arms), But I had already planned to pass the hand next year. Here I am now with a new presidency. Finally, chance did things well.
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