Ewald Kaeser (trade unionist)

Ewald Kaeser (born November 15, 1918 ; died November 23, 2010 ) was a Swiss trade unionist . From 1982 to 1984 he was the central president of the Textile, Chemical and Paper Union (GTCP) .

Life

Origin and early career

Ewald Kaeser came from a working-class family. His father was a blacksmith in the Schweizerhalle acid factory and a trade unionist. Since there were no apprenticeships available for his dream job as a carpenter, Kaeser did an apprenticeship as a furniture foreman after finishing elementary school. He then worked as a casual worker on the construction site and graduated from the recruit school. A phase of unemployment followed until he was finally drafted into active service.

Against the background of the struggle against National Socialism, Kaeser joined the Communist Party of Switzerland (KPS) , which primarily led it in Switzerland. Living in Rheinfelden , he knew his way around the border area well. Therefore, he worked as a contact person when members of the labor movement crossed borders and supported them in resisting the Nazi state .

After Kaeser had received leave from active duty, he worked as an unskilled worker in the shipping company for the barrel factory in Rheinfelden . He had to call in again and when he was given leave again, he got involved - the KPS had meanwhile been banned - in the newly founded Labor Party (PdA) and for the reconstruction of nature lovers . As a communist he was under special observation in the Swiss Army . In active service, he also organized a strike against a harassed officer, in which he went unpunished because he was supported by the whole train.

Union career

In 1946 Kaeser became a chemical worker at Geigy in Schweizerhalle . He also switched from the trade, transport and food worker ( VHTL) to the Swiss Textile and Factory Workers' Association (STFV) . In 1947 he became president of the Schweizerhalle group of the STFV and vice-president of the workers' commission.

In the anti-communist mood after the Hungarian uprising , employers refused to negotiate with communists. Kaeser therefore let the works meeting decide whether he should remain its representative. This unanimously decided that Kaeser should leave the PdA and continue to represent the workforce. As a result, Kaeser left the PdA and from then on remained independent . However, he remained a representative of the left wing of the trade union throughout his life. In 1957 he became a union secretary at the STFV, which from 1963 called itself GTCP. In the summer of 1970, the Basel section of the GTCP nominated him as a presidential candidate for the Basel-Stadt trade union cartel. However, he was defeated by Helmut Hubacher . At the beginning of the 1970s, he succeeded Adolf Knecht as branch secretary for the chemical-pharmaceutical industry. In 1982 he became central president of the GTCP. He held this post until 1984.

Kaeser was strongly committed to employee participation , which was a central issue for the unions in the 1970s. In 1968 he developed a co-determination concept for the chemical industry. He drew ideas for this from the experience of the German Chemical-Paper-Ceramics trade union . He played a key role in drawing up the co-determination initiative of the Swiss Confederation of Trade Unions (SGB) , which was rejected by the people in 1976 .

Kaeser renounced a political career. According to his successor as central president of the GTCP, Hans Schäppi, he saw strong unions as more useful to the workforce than political offices.

Kaeser's son was the journalist and poet Ewald Kaeser . Kaeser senior wrote poetry himself. He published it in the workshop for workers' culture in Basel, which his son had co-founded.

literature

• Alois Bischof: This injustice . In: GTCP Basel Section (Ed.): 50 Years of the Textile Chemistry Paper Section Basel . Basel 1991, p. 12-14 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Alois Bischof: This injustice . In: GTCP Basel Section (Ed.): 50 Years of the Textile Chemistry Paper Section Basel . Basel 1991, p. 12–14, here p. 12 f .
2. ↑ Ralph Hug: Antifascist and Worker Poet; On the death of trade unionist Ewald Kaeser (1918–2010) . In: Work . January 21, 2011, p. 11 .
3. ↑ Ralph Hug: Antifascist and Worker Poet; On the death of trade unionist Ewald Kaeser (1918–2010) . In: Work . January 21, 2011, p. 11 .
4. ↑ Alois Bischof: This injustice . In: GTCP Basel Section (Ed.): 50 Years of the Textile Chemistry Paper Section Basel . Basel 1991, p. 12–14, here p. 12 f .
5. ↑ Alois Bischof: This injustice . In: GTCP Basel Section (Ed.): 50 Years of the Textile Chemistry Paper Section Basel . Basel 1991, p. 12–14, here p. 13 .
6. ↑ Alois Bischof: This injustice . In: GTCP Basel Section (Ed.): 50 Years of the Textile Chemistry Paper Section Basel . Basel 1991, p. 12–14, here p. 13 .
7. ↑ Ralph Hug: Antifascist and Worker Poet; On the death of trade unionist Ewald Kaeser (1918–2010) . In: Work . January 21, 2011, p. 11 .
8. ↑ Hans Schäppi: Ewald Kaeser . In: Basler Zeitung . December 2, 2010, p. 15 .
9. ^ Bernard Degen: Textile, Chemical and Paper Union (GTCP). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . November 18, 2010 , accessed June 30, 2020 .
10. ↑ Daniel Zürcher: The attitude of the Basel trade unions to labor immigration using the examples of the union cartel, SMUV and GTCP (1960–1981) . In: Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde . tape 115 , 2015, p. 207–234, here p. 225 ( e-periodica.ch [accessed on July 2, 2020]).
11. ↑ Hans Schäppi: Ewald Kaeser . In: Basler Zeitung . December 2, 2010, p. 15 .
12. ↑ Hans Schäppi: Ewald Kaeser . In: Basler Zeitung . December 2, 2010, p. 15 .
13. ↑ Ralph Hug: Antifascist and Worker Poet; On the death of trade unionist Ewald Kaeser (1918–2010) . In: Work . January 21, 2011, p. 11 .
14. ↑ Ralph Hug: Antifascist and Worker Poet; On the death of trade unionist Ewald Kaeser (1918–2010) . In: Work . January 21, 2011, p. 11 .
15. ↑ Ralph Hug: Antifascist and Worker Poet; On the death of trade unionist Ewald Kaeser (1918–2010) . In: Work . January 21, 2011, p. 11 .
16. ↑ Ralph Hug: Antifascist and Worker Poet; On the death of trade unionist Ewald Kaeser (1918–2010) . In: Work . January 21, 2011, p. 11 .
17. ↑ Linda Stibler: Ewald Kaeser . In: Basler Zeitung . January 2, 2003, p. 20 .
18. ↑ Alois Bischof: This injustice . In: GTCP Basel Section (Ed.): 50 Years of the Textile Chemistry Paper Section Basel . Basel 1991, p. 12–14, here p. 14 .