Protest in front of Tamedia shareholders

They called for "Investments instead of dividends!" because if the 42.2 million Swiss francs proposed by the Board of Directors for distribution were invested in the company, all savings programs would be unnecessary. The reduction of around 50 full-time positions in Winterthur, Bülach, Stäfa, Lausanne, Geneva and Bussigny announced at the beginning of the year could be dispensed with completely, and in the case of redundancies a social plan could be negotiated at eye level with those affected and the associations, instead of being ordered by the management, as is the company's tradition of social partnership.

Thus, at the Tamedia shareholders' general meeting, Imprint and Syndicom proposed not to pay out the dividends and to invest them instead in jobs as well as in the quality of the products. As expected from the ownership and voting structure, the motion was clearly rejected (1'600 yes, 21'500 abstentions and 9.8 million no). A second motion, which demanded that the compensation principles of the Executive Board be rejected and that their salaries and remuneration be made independent of profits, was far less clearly rejected with 512'000 abstentions, 56'000 votes in favor, and 9.25 million votes against: for the first time, dissatisfaction with the greedy business practices of the Executive Board became manifest.

Imprint and Syndicom will continue to campaign for job preservation and fight the once again announced savings programs of CHF 62 million in three years, according to the statement. In the letter, the associations call on Tamedia to "finally negotiate again with the social partners." Particularly in view of the profit shares now being distributed, the announced layoffs must be withdrawn and solutions sought that would do justice to the economic success of the media group and ensure it for the future.