German textile workers' association
The German Textile Workers' Association was the free trade union organization for textile workers from 1891 to 1933 . It was characterized by a high number of female members.
precursor
There were various approaches to organizing the textile workers. This includes the " International Trade Union for Manufacturers, Factory and Handicraftsmen" founded in Leipzig in 1869. This organization was structured centrally and had various local organizations. The chairman was Julius Motteler . The association was dissolved in 1878 as part of the Socialist Law . Thereafter, professional associations continued to exist at the local level. A new supraregional organizational attempt was made in 1884 with the German Manufactory Workers' Association based in Gera . With the Deutsche Manufakturarbeiterzeitung, the association had its own organ. This organization could not last long either and was dissolved by the police in 1887.
history
After the end of the socialist law, the first German textile workers' congress took place in Pößneck in 1891 . On this the German Textile Workers Association was founded. Carl Hübsch became chairman for many years . There were reservations within the association about a centralized organization. There were numerous members who preferred a loose organization of local groups connected by shop stewards. It also played a role in the fact that the role of the trade unions was seen as rather insignificant compared to the political arm of the labor movement. Ultimately, however, a centralized organization prevailed.
The association acquired the magazine "Textilarbeiter" and made it an organ of the association. In 1900 the association had 42,742 members. Due to the increase in membership fees, the number of members decreased to 27,548 a short time later. In 1903/04 the association led the Crimmitschauer strike, which was widely noticed throughout the empire, to enforce the ten-hour day. This strike put a heavy strain on the association's finances and the health of the cashier Georg Treue collapsed as a result of the strain. However, the number of members increased as a result. Since 1905/06 a regional division into Gaue and the employment of full-time Gau leaders was introduced.
Already during the First World War there were opposition efforts within the association. After the November Revolution, the opposition in the textile workers' union, directed against the moderate leadership of the trade unions, played a decisive role for a time. Since 1919, Hermann Jäckel was chairman of the company with equal rights alongside Hübsch. In 1928 there were 281 local administrations with a total of 310,941 members. Of these, 179,767 were female. The association, with its unusually high proportion of women, suffered greatly from competition from the Christian trade unions .
During the global economic crisis , the number of members decreased more than average compared to other organizations as a result of the high unemployment in the textile industry. The history of the German Textile Workers' Association also ended with the smashing of the free trade unions. After the Second World War, workers in the textile industry in the Federal Republic organized themselves into the Textile Clothing Union .
literature
- Karl Schrader: German Textile Workers Association. In: Ludwig Heyde (Hrsg.): Internationales Concise Dictionary of Trade Unions Vol. 1 Berlin, 1931, pp. 385–387. Electronic ed .: Bonn: FES Library, 2009
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael Schneider. Highs, crises and lows. The unions in the Weimar Republic. In: Ulrich Borsdorf (Hrsg.): History of the German trade unions. From the beginning until 1945. Cologne, 1987 p. 307
- ↑ Michael Schneider. Highs, crises and lows. The unions in the Weimar Republic. In: Ulrich Borsdorf (Hrsg.): History of the German trade unions. From the beginning until 1945. Cologne, 1987 p. 327
- ↑ Michael Schneider. Highs, crises and lows. The unions in the Weimar Republic. In: Ulrich Borsdorf (Hrsg.): History of the German trade unions. From the beginning until 1945. Cologne, 1987 p. 397