Ralph Labonte (59), member of the Executive Board and labor director of ThyssenKrupp AG, is leaving the company at March 31, 2013 – for health reasons, as previously reported. Ralph Labonte has been a member of the Executive Board and labor director of ThyssenKrupp AG since 2003. He began his career at the company in 1994 as member of the Executive Board and labor director of Thyssen Guss AG.
The Supervisory Board and Executive Board of ThyssenKrupp AG thank Ralph Labonte for his long years of dedication and untiring effort for the Company: The leitmotif of his work in all his functions was to balance employer and employee interests for the greater good of the Company and its people.
At its meeting today the Supervisory Board of ThyssenKrupp AG decided to appoint Oliver Burkhard (40) as a member of the Executive Board of ThyssenKrupp AG with effect from February 1, 2013. In April 2013 he is to take over as labor director to succeed Ralph Labonte.
From 2007 to 2012 Oliver Burkhard was head of the North Rhine-Westphalia region of the IG Metall trade union. Previously he had worked in various responsible positions for IG Metall in Frankfurt am Main and Düsseldorf since 1997.
At ThyssenKrupp 170,000 employees in around 80 countries work with passion and expertise to develop solutions for sustainable progress. Their skills and commitment are the basis of our success. In fiscal year 2010/2011 ThyssenKrupp generated sales of €49 billion.
For us, innovations and technical progress are key factors in managing global growth and using finite resources in a sustainable way. With our engineering expertise in the areas of “Material”, “Mechanical” and “Plant”, we enable our customers to gain an edge in the global market and manufacture innovative products in a cost- and resource-efficient way.