Born in Wuppertal, Germany in 1955
Married with two children
Education
Degree in Social Science and Economics from University of Wuppertal.
Civic Service
| 1975 - 1976 | Clinic in Wuppertal |
Career
| 1971 - 1974 | Foreign sales assistant at Hoechst AG |
| 1981 | Trainee at the ETUC |
| 1983 | Assistant to the European Economic and Social Committee |
| 1984 - 1994 | Head of department at Hans Böckler Foundation of the DGB |
| 1994 | Director of the ETUI; editor of TRANSFER, European Review of Labour and Research and (together with Emilio Gabaglio) of the European Trade Union Yearbook. |
Membership
| Since 1972 | Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) |
| Since 1972 | Industriegewerkschaft Bergbau, Chemie, Energie (IGBCE) |
Current duties outside the ETUI
Member of the Board of Trustees of Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPI)
Member of the Supervisory Board of SASOL Germany
Member of the Industrial Relations Advisory Committee of the Dublin Foundation
Member of different research advisory bodies
His interests include music, sport and cinema. Running in the Brussels Marathon is one of his latest hobbies.
Elected Deputy General Secretary of the ETUC at its congress in Prague May 2003. Re-elected in Seville in 2007.
