Walter Riester (born 27 September 1943 in

Kaufbeuren Kaufbeuren (; Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Kaufbeiren'') is an independent city, independent town in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia, Bavaria. The town is an enclave within the Districts of Germany, district of Ostallgäu. ...

) is a German politician of the SPD and former Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.

Political career

Riester joined the SPD in 1966. From 1993 to 1998 he was deputy chairman of the

IG Metall IG Metall (; IGM; German: , "Industrial Union of Metalworkers'") is the dominant metalworkers' union in Germany, making it the country's largest union as well as Europe's largest industrial union. Analysts of German labor relations consider i ...

. From 1998 until 2005, Riester was a member of the SPD's federal executive board, under the leadership of successive chairmen

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and Lobbying, lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (S ...

and Franz Müntefering. From 1998 to 2002 Riester was Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in the cabinet of

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

. The ministry was dissolved after the 2002 elections, so Riester was withdrawn from the cabinet, although there had been no change of government. His name is best known for the so-called ''Riester-Rente'', a grant-aided privately funded

pension scheme A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a "Defined benefit pension pla ...

, which was created during his term of office. From 2002 until

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, Riester was a member of the German Bundestag, where he served on the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development. In addition to his committee assignments, he was a member of the German delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

Other activities

Union Investment Union Asset Management Holding AG () is the Investment banking, investment arm of the DZ Bank, DZ Bank Group and part of the cooperative financial services network. It was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Frankfurt. Trading in open-end f ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (2009-2012) * Hans Böckler Prize of the City of Cologne, Member of the Advisory BoardHans Böckler Prize
City of Cologne.

References

External links

Official Website
(German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Riester, Walter 1943 births Living people Ministers of labor of Germany Members of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg People from Kaufbeuren Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg Social affairs ministers of Germany Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany