Alois Büchi

Alois Büchi (born August 11, 1879 in Thalwil ; † June 1, 1948 in Küsnacht ) was a Swiss trade unionist and secretary of the Association of Trade, Transport and Food Workers ( VHTL ).

Life

Büchi came from the simplest of circumstances. Since the father, a sawmill, and the mother, a weaver, could not look after the child, he was placed in a foster family at an early age as a hiring boy . He also had to support his grandfather with peddling with kindling. Nevertheless, he achieved good academic results and was able to complete an apprenticeship in a mechanical workshop. On his subsequent wandering, which took him to Alsace and Bavaria , among other places , he came into contact with socialist ideas for the first time. After his marriage around 1900 he found work in the Swiss locomotive and machine factory in Winterthur . Here Büchi became involved in the labor movement, which was even approved by the democratically-minded director.

In 1907 Büchi switched to the Swiss Metalworking and Watch Workers' Association ( SMUV ) as a full-time secretary , two years later he became secretary of the VHTL in Schaffhausen and remained in office until 1936.

literature

• Büchi, Alois: From contracting boy to union secretary. Serious and cheerful. Bern 1938 (autobiography).
• Association of trade, transport and food workers in Switzerland (Ed.): In memory of Alois Büchi. Zurich 1948 (obituary).