Halberstadt Congress
The Halberstadt Congress (also Halberstadt Congress ) was held from March 14 to 18, 1892 by delegates from 57 organizations of the free trade unions in Halberstadt . The aim of the congress was to reorganize the German trade union movement after the end of the socialist persecution .
Attendees
The German Reich counted in 1892 a total of 65 different unions, of which 57 took part with a total of 172 delegates at Halberstadter Congress. These 57 unions represented a total of 272,380 unionized members. In addition, there were another 36 delegates from various smaller organizations, representing another 31,130 members. Thus a total of 208 delegates came together in Halberstadt who represented the interests of more than 300,000 workers. The congress was boycotted by the unions of roofers, brickworkers, wheelwright and confectioners, among others. The most important participant is Carl Legien , who had been chairman of the general commission of the German trade unions since 1890 .
Content and course of the congress
After twelve years of persecution and suppression of socialist organizations by the Bismarck Socialist Law between 1878 and 1890, public activities of the trade unions were not possible. At the Halberstadt Congress , a report was to be made on the activities of the General Commission and a decision on the question of organization , i.e. the future structure of the German trade union movement.
The congress was opened by Carl Legien. In his opening speech, he stated that the unions of the German Reich alone would not have the strength to bring about their own solution to the social question , but could effectively fight together with the political parties for a significant improvement in the situation of the workers. He shouted to the delegates: "Like the pioneers, the trade unions have to pave the way for a higher intellectual conception and, by achieving better wages and working conditions, to protect the working class from impoverishment and swamping, in order to enable the masses of workers, the historical Task that falls to the working class to be able to solve. " Legien's assessment sparked considerable discussion about the organizational structure of the German trade union movement. While the localists , mostly representatives of the smaller organizations, pleaded for the retention of decentralized governance structures and at the same time sought to end the separation between party-political and trade union labor movements, larger unions, such as those of the woodworkers and those of the metalworkers, sought centralized leadership. After a long debate, the localists' application was rejected and the draft of the woodworkers ' union , which was clearly centralized, was approved with the support of the metalworkers' union . As a result, several delegates of the localists refused to participate in the Halberstadt Congress and left it with a protest note. Scholars rate the rejection of the localists' application as a clear rejection of syndicalism .
Content of the successful design
The successfully adopted draft of the woodworkers described above declared "the central organization as the basis of the trade union organization" and called for the organization of the trade unions according to occupational groups. As a result, workers in the same factory could become members of different trade unions depending on their occupation. In addition to these basic stipulations, the Congress assigned specific tasks to the General Commission as the central organ of the trade union movement. The commission was supposed to promote the union idea in poorly organized areas of the German Reich, establish international connections, promote cooperation between the individual unions and, in the long term, strive to overcome piecework by law . The establishment of a central strike support fund is withdrawn from the Central Commission and left to the individual unions. In view of these assignments, one delegate described the Central Commission as "more moral than leading cohesion" of the trade union movement.
Special congresses
In addition to the main congress, a total of eleven special congresses of individual trade unions took place on March 16, 1892 in Halberstadt. Here internal union issues were discussed and individually significant decisions were made. A list of these decisions can be found in the archive of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
General Commission
After the substantive determinations, the General Commission was also newly elected. Carl Legien was again chairman. The commission also had six other members, all of whom came from Hamburg. In addition, Hamburg was designated the new seat of the Commission.
Effects of the Halberstadt Congress
The resolutions of the Halberstadt Congress determined trade union activity until the Weimar Republic . The rejection of the syndicalist revolutionary policy led to the fact that radical socialist ideas and organizations developed parallel to the trade union and party political organizations and thus, from the Marxist point of view, led to a weakening of the fighting power of the labor movement.
In addition, the professional organization of the trade union movement meant that the clout of individual unions was significantly reduced. For example, a single union strike in a multi-occupational factory had little effect, as members of other unions generally continued to work.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d http://library.fes.de/fulltext/bibliothek/tit00148/00148025.htm#E322E61
- ↑ General Commission of the German Trade Unions.
- ^ A b Axel Kuhn: The German Labor Movement (2004).
- ↑ a b Peter Röben: Historical development of operational co-determination (2006).
- ↑ http://library.fes.de/fulltext/bibliothek/tit00148/00148025.htm#E322E62
literature
- Axel Kuhn: The German Labor Movement (2004). Reclam
- Peter Röben: Historical Development of Workplace Co-Determination in Germany (2006)