Taking on responsibility for the society in which we live goes without saying at Swissmetal. To this end we have sought out various areas that we support in a targeted manner. Besides support in the form of donations of money and in kind, we also keep an eye out for projects in the cultural sphere. Here are a few examples of our commitment:

 

Donations instead of gifts

Instead of investing in Christmas gifts for customers, in 2007 Swissmetal donated a five-figure sum to the Swiss Red Cross. The donation was used for basic medical services in Darfur, Sudan. The “Mukjar Primary Healthcare Service” has the aim of providing the population with urgently required health services. Women, children and older people in particular are suffering from a lack of basic healthcare.

In 2008 the Swiss National Park was given a five-figure donation. This was used to support the construction and fitting out of the new National Park Centre in Zernez. The SNP’s visitor centre, designed by the architect Valerio Olgiati, is impressive with its modern design using few materials: concrete, structural bronze and glass. The new landmark is given a particular character by the use of structural bronze and this stresses the quality of the structure.

 

Support for young artists

In 2006 Swissmetal was able to engage the young artist David A. Lucco for the mural at its factory in Dornach.

The requirement made of the artist was that the mural should perfectly match the environment, a resort area on the River Birs among trees and bridges. The mural was therefore to be the expression of a certain freedom since walkers only ever visit this area in their leisure time. The painted soap bubbles consist largely of water and air. This creates the impression that they are floating weightlessly around and moving freely and without compulsion like the people going by on this footpath. The light colours emphasise the lightness and beauty of nature.

After taking his school leaving examinations, the artist David A. Lucco, born in Basel on 30.06.1983, studied at Perugia University for Foreigners and attended a preliminary course at the Kunstgewerbeschule (Applied Arts College) in Basel. Then he started his training at the Lehramt für Bildende Kunst (Fine Arts Teacher Training College) in Basel. He worked on this mural alongside 30 different mural artists that he was able to recruit from the Zurich region especially for this project. 145 litres of coloured external emulsion and about 400 spray guns were used over about 200 hours of work.

 

Social partnerships

Swissmetal is always striving to reconcile the interests of the company, the demands of the market and the needs of its staff. For this it is important to have strong partnerships with the representatives of the various interest groups. As a respected employer Swissmetal is in favour of open dialogue in all situations and is a reliable partner for employers’ associations and unions.

Swissmetal is a partner of the following institutions:

Employers’ associations

 

• Switzerland:
  • Swissmem (Association of the Swiss Machine, Electrical and Metal Industry and Associated Technology-Orientated Sectors)
• Germany:
  • Employers’ Association of the Metal and Electrical Industry, Lüdenscheid
  • Federation of the Metal Industry Employers’ Associations (“Gesamtmetall” for short).
• USA:
  • American Association of Exporters and Importers
  • Writing Instrument Manufacturer Association

Unions

 

• Switzerland:
  • Unia (biggest union in Switzerland, looking after about 500 collective working agreements that regulate the working conditions of about one million employees)
  • Syna (second biggest all-sector union in Switzerland with about 65,000 members)
  • Angestellte Schweiz (Employee organisation for the machine, electrical and metal industry (MEM) and chemicals/pharmaceuticals sectors)
• Germany:
  • IG Metall (about 2.3 million members from the metal industry, metal crafts, the textile and clothing industry, wood and plastics industry and the information and communications industry)