Chamber of Commerce visits the insulator factory As part of WKO on Tour, Chamber of Commerce Styria Vice President Herbert Ritter visited companies in the Graz area.

 
16.05.2024
"Performance must be worthwhile" is the motto for which Styrian Chamber of Commerce Vice President Herbert Ritter and regional office chairman Michael Kohl are fighting - and with full force. "We must do everything in our power to raise the groundwater level of motivation and personal responsibility in our country," stressed Ritter, who visited several companies in the Graz area and also stopped at the GIPRO factory in Peggau.

Julian Englich welcomed the delegation, which was completed by Mayor Viertler from the municipality of Deutschfeistritz, to the insulator factory. After a few words of welcome from WK Vice President Ritter, the delegation was led through the insulator production. From the cast resin preparation, the tour continued to the production halls, where the various casting systems were explained. The new Fox production line, which is used to manufacture insulating plugs for medium-voltage cable connectors with a high degree of automation, was very well received. The insulators are later used primarily in wind turbines and thus make a contribution to the green transformation. The interested listeners also found the vacuum casting system for particularly large or complex cast resin insulators exciting.

Finally, the numerous testing systems with which GIPRO can ensure the high quality of the insulators were demonstrated. Among other things, the electrical test hall was inspected from the inside, where tests can be carried out with electrical voltages of up to 200 kV. The two X-ray systems, which can make even small irregularities within the products visible and thus enable 100% quality control, were also interesting.
During the visit, Vice President Ritter also commented on the Chamber of Commerce's position: solidarity is not a one-way street and prosperity is not a civil right; these must be earned every day.
However, our tax system "promotes" working less. "Anyone who increases their working hours by 100% only gets an average of 72% more pay. The state takes the rest of the increase in income." This is one of the reasons why one in three people in Austria now chooses to work part-time – even without care responsibilities.

"It is not the individual decision that needs to be questioned, but a system that promotes such phenomena," criticizes regional office chairman Hohl. This is because sooner or later our social system will become unaffordable – at least if everyone wants to use it "full-time." Statistically speaking, Austrians only work 32.4 hours a week. And not for very long either. Just 32 percent of 60 to 64-year-olds still work, while in Germany, for example, the figure is 63.2 percent.

WKO performance agenda

This is why the Styrian Chamber of Commerce’s performance agenda was presented, which includes the following principles.
  • More performance must be rewarded
  • Get rid of superfluous laws and regulation
  • Those who contribute more instead of demanding promote our prosperity
  • Raise the education system to the demands of the 21st century
  • Do something instead of not doing anything