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18 November, 2007
The ICEM mourns the passing of Heribert Maier. He died suddenly in Graz, Austria, on 6 November, from a cerebral haemorrhage. He was 75.
Heribert Maier was one of the champions in the achievement of workers’ rights on the global level in the 1970s and 1980s, and beyond. “We have much to be thankful for because of his work on the ILO’s Freedom of Association Committee,” said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. “The recognition of basic ILO Conventions is a tribute to Heribert Maier.”
Warda also lauded Maier for giving strong support to the Mineworkers’ International Federation (MIF) in getting the Health and Safety in Mines Convention 176 through the ILO.
He joined OGB, the Austrian national labour centre, in 1955, and rose from there to prominent careers at the ICFTU and the ILO. He also served as General Secretary of FIET, which merged with two other global unions to become UNI in 2000, from 1973-1979. He was a pioneer then, among global trade union leaders, to work extensively and successfully in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
He held several distinguished positions at the ILO, including Governing Body member, Vice President of Conference, ACTRAV spokesman in the Freedom of Association Committee, and a co-drafter of the 1977 ILO Tripartite Declaration on Multinationals.
The ICEM extends its deepest condolences to Heribert Maier’s immediate family, his wife Renée, daughter Christina, and to affiliated unions of UNI on the sad occurrence of his death.