Heinrich Gutermuth

Heinrich Gutermuth (born June 18, 1898 in Ilbeshausen , † June 28, 1977 in Bochum ) was a German trade unionist . From 1956 to 1964 he was chairman of the trade union IG Bergbau und Energie .

Life

Gutermuth was the son of a farmer. He attended the elementary school in Ilbeshausen. He then completed an apprenticeship as a machine fitter from 1912 to 1915. Between 1916 and 1918 he took part in the First World War as a soldier . He then worked as a pit fitter from 1919 to 1926. He passed the master craftsman examination in 1924.

In 1920 he became a member of the Christian Miners' Association . Between 1926 and 1933 he worked as a full-time functionary for this organization. From 1931 to 1933 he was district manager in Recklinghausen .

After the beginning of the National Socialist rule and the end of the trade unions, he worked as a representative of a Bielefeld linen factory. Between 1939 and 1945 he took part in World War II as a soldier . He was then a Soviet prisoner of war until 1946.

Immediately after his release, he got involved again in the miners' movement. He was initially the branch manager in Recklinghausen. He was then from 1946 to 1953 union secretary and member of the main board of the union IG Bergbau und Energie. As such, he was responsible for the “Works Councils and Mine Safety” department. During this time, he played a key role in building the IG Bergbau und Energie union.

In 1953 he was elected by a large majority to succeed August Schmidt as chairman of the union. He renounced the acceptance of the office in favor of Heinrich Imig . The reason was Gutermuth's attempt to reconcile various groups within the union. Instead, he became the union's vice chairman.

After Imig's death, Gutermuth was re-elected chairman by a large majority in 1956. At the beginning of his activity he called for the coal mining to be converted into a public service regime . In the following years he also campaigned for the socialization of mining. In 1959 he mobilized the members of his union against meetings of the right-wing German Reich Party . This was the first time that a trade union in the Federal Republic of Germany turned openly against a political party. In connection with the worsening crisis in coal mining, Gutermuth spoke out in 1962 for the coordination of energy policy at European level. In 1963 he was elected President of the International Miners' Union until 1967. He was also a member of the DGB federal executive board and deputy chairman of the supervisory board of Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks AG , Rheinstahl AG and Neue Heimat . Politically, he was a member since 1945, first the CDU , but later transferred to the SPD for which it in parliamentary elections in 1949 in vain in the federal election district of Recklinghausen City candidate and the him in 1959 and 1964 Federal Assembly sent. In 1964 he retired from IG Bergbau und Energie for reasons of age.

On his sixty-fifth birthday, Gutermuth was awarded the Great Cross of Merit with Star and Shoulder Ribbon from the Federal Republic of Germany. He died in 1977 as a result of an operation.

literature

• Munzinger : Internationales Biographisches Archiv 37/1977 of September 5, 1977
• Bernd Haunfelder : North Rhine-Westphalia. Country and people 1946-2006. A biographical manual . Münster, 2006 p. 181