Union boss Pierre-Yves Maillard: he pulls the strings everywhere

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There are no half measures for union boss Pierre-Yves Maillard (55). Certainly not with fondue. When the waiter in the restaurant in Châtel-St-Denis FR suggests that he and his wife take a moitié-moitié, Maillard shakes his head. “We’re only taking Vacherin.” He then checks his cell phone. “Aha, the SVP needs the appearance of two federal councilors at its delegation meeting so that the base rejects the 13th AHV pension.”

A week earlier, Maillard explained to the same clientele at the Albisgüetli conference why the AHV will not go bankrupt with a 13th pension. “Some whispered to me that they would vote yes,” he says, smiling and putting bread on his fork.

The great Vaudois SP Council of States does not only pull the strings at the AHV. The head of the Swiss Trade Union Confederation SGB has de facto a veto right in the EU file. In June he wants to limit health insurance premiums with an initiative. And in September he will lead the referendum on pension funds. «It is a year of struggle. I enjoy afternoons like today even more.”

The fact that her husband is in the spotlight is no problem for Enrica Maillard-Voegeli (52): “I knew what I was getting into.” The two met while studying at the University of Lausanne, but did not become a couple until 2001, when Maillard was already a member of the National Council. “It’s just like in politics: sometimes it takes a while before something good happens,” he says.

His wife knows him better

The woman from Lucerne, who teaches German at the high school in Lausanne VD, convinced her husband in 2018 to run for office to succeed union boss Paul Rechsteiner. At that time, Maillard had already been in the Vaud government for fifteen years. “I thought I could take it easy after that.”

But his wife knows him better. “I knew you’d go crazy if you couldn’t do something challenging,” she says. He nods. “When I turned on the TV at ten o’clock on the second day after my departure from the government, I knew: Enrica was right.”

Maillard lives with her, a 14-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old son in a house in the working-class district of Renens, west of Lausanne. On Saturday mornings you can find him on the market square, where he buys Vacherin from the Portuguese and Saucisson from the Italian. He shakes hands everywhere, talks about the traffic in the area, regional cheese or holidays in Croatia. The owner of a flower shop – ‘an FDP member’, as Maillard emphasizes – complains that there is less and less money in the cash register at the end of the month.

That is Maillard’s key word. “You see: no one can live on an average pension of 2,000 francs per month!” Within seconds he refutes every argument put forward against the 13th AHV. The 4 billion costs? «Too pessimistic. The AHV will make a profit of up to 3.4 billion euros in the coming years.”

The guys who finance everything? ‘They also grow old and benefit from it.’ The 80 percent of retirees who are doing well? “Only if everyone receives the 13th pension, will the middle class also benefit.” What follows is an exhaustingly long monologue about declining purchasing power.

Grandfather was with the SVP

«Pierre-Yves is tough when it comes to negotiating. But once a compromise has been found with him, he is loyal,” says Pascal Broulis, member of the FDP Council of States and a colleague for many years. Maillard is a trade unionist who still knows the value of a franc. Although he is now one of the top earners, Maillard’s answer to the question of what drives him is clear: ‘injustice’.

He grew up in Lausanne as the son of a garage owner and a factory worker. “We had three books at home: the dictionary, the telephone book and the Bible.” Pierre-Yves is a shy boy and doesn’t talk much. He especially likes being with his grandfather, a farmer who sits on the canton council of the BGB, the predecessor of the SVP. “He was a supporter of Social Security.”

Maillard is the first in her family to attend college. There he feels the two-class society particularly strongly – and thus finds his voice. After working for several years as a teacher, municipal and canton councilor, he joined the metal trade union as regional manager.

Today, Maillard is so powerful as a top trade unionist that his nickname “Pym” has already been changed to “Pym Il Sung,” referring to North Korea’s rulers. “I think it’s funny,” says Maillard, who listens to Metallica or AC/DC rock to relax. He downplays his power. “In Switzerland, power lies with the people.”

“I am on the side of the children”

Pym can come across as tough on the football field or on the sidelines. Maillard, who only joins FC Nationalrat because of his knees, is there at the weekend when his daughter or son has a match. “My daughter sometimes plays against boys. If they come in unfairly because the girls are playing better, I’m going to get loud.”

On Saturday his daughter’s team wins, she contributes an assist. “Well played. But yes, you can also shoot directly at the goal.”

Although her husband is involved in everything, he was always a present father, says Enrica Maillard after the fondue. At home he is anything but strict. “I often side with the children, much to my wife’s annoyance,” he says, holding his hands to his face.

Then his phone rings. Redens Football Club. Maillard: “They are renovating the stadium and the children can hardly play for a year. I have to help!”

Source:Blick