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  • STEAG flies the flag against racism

    The Group supports the International Weeks against Racism in March

    From March 16 to 29 this year, the “International Weeks against Racism” will take place in Germany. Under the motto of “Show your face – raise your voice”, numerous initiatives, associations and companies are sending out clear signals against xenophobia and exclusion. STEAG and its subsidiaries are also taking part in this campaign: At all of the Group’s German locations, a special flag is hoisted as a visible sign of STEAG’s support.

    “Overcoming national egoism and showing international solidarity – that is indispensable, especially in the coronavirus crisis. Only together can we meet this great challenge. STEAG is an international and cosmopolitan company. The Group is represented in more than 40 countries on all five continents. Our team comprises employees from 42 nations worldwide and we communicate with each other in at least as many languages during our work,” says Alfred Geissler, Industrial Relations Director and member of the Management Board of STEAG GmbH.

    Clear self-image
    STEAG follows this attitude consistently – both internally and externally. Accordingly, the Group’s Code of Conduct for employees states: “Discrimination and disadvantage based on origin or race, gender, religion or ideology, disability, age or sexual identity will not be tolerated.” Jörg Nierhaus, responsible for Compliance at STEAG, adds: “This position is not negotiable, but a fundamental part of the STEAG family’s self-image.”

    Sending a signal against intolerance
    Because of such a clear position within the company and its international character, exclusion and xenophobia traditionally have no place at STEAG. Nevertheless – or perhaps precisely because of this – it is so important for the company to document this attitude visibly to the outside world. “STEAG sees itself as a role model in terms of tolerance and diversity. We are also happy to demonstrate that to the outside world. That is because this attitude is a matter of course for STEAG, and it should also apply to our society as a whole,” says Bernd Hagemeier, Chairman of STEAG’s General Works Council. The special flag flying during the nationwide campaign weeks is a symbolic demonstration of this to the general public.

    Diversity as an advantage
    For STEAG itself, variety and diversity are ultimately also competitive advantages: “Nothing is more hostile to innovation and impedes progress more than uniformity. STEAG’s entrepreneurial success, on the other hand, is also the result of the wide variety of different characters that STEAG has among its employees worldwide,” concludes STEAG’s Industrial Relations Director Alfred Geissler.

    Caption: (from left to right): Uschi Samland (Chairwoman of the Essen Works Council), Bernd Hagemeier (Chairman of the Group Works Council), Jörg Nierhaus (Chief Compliance Officer), Labor Director Alfred Geißler and Verena Peters (STEAG employee), at whose initiative the company takes part in the campaign.