Swiss Association of Protestant Workers

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The Swiss Association of Protestant Workers ( SVEA ) was founded in 1920. In 1951 it had 16,890 members. In 1993 the SVEA gave up its legal independence and joined the Christian Union for Industry, Commerce and Commerce (CMV).

prehistory

In 1888 a Christian social association was established in Geneva . In 1894, at the instigation of the Evangelical Church Association, sixty men, both clergy and laypeople, planned the establishment of a Swiss Christian social association on October 16, 1894 in Olten . However, the institution was never established. On December 16, 1894, the Evangelical Social Workers' Association was founded in Basel . In the same year the Christian-Sociological Conference was established under the Reformed clergy in Zurich . On September 28, 1900, following preparatory work by the Christian workers 'associations in Horgen , Basel and Bern, the Association of Christian (Protestant) social workers' associations in Switzerland was founded. On October 4, 1907, the association newspaper Der Freie Schweizer Arbeiter ... Official organ of the evangelical-social workers' associations appeared for the first time . However, this organization and the local workers' associations only had a short existence in many places.

At the end of the 19th century there were two directions of Protestant workers' associations: One had a social-diaconal, cultural or educational purpose in the tradition of the Inner Mission , the other were also open to accepting and formulating socio-political concerns. From the second direction, a loose evangelical workers' association emerged in 1900. Emphasis was placed on denominational and party-political independence. This differed from the later Christian social unions , which were at least partially a child of the Catholic counter-society. Since the founding of the Swiss federal state in 1848, this has been in latent contrast to the politically liberal cantons, which were mostly evangelical reformed. The contrast between the Protestant workers' associations and the bourgeois-dominated society was never as strongly developed as in the social democratic trade unions.

In 1900 the Swiss Federation of Protestant Workers' Associations was established . His success was that, together with the Swiss Workers' Union, the Factory Act set the Saturday closing time at 5 p.m. With the exception of Basel, the sections of these evangelical social workers' associations were closed by 1919.

In 1904 the Catholic-influenced Christian social unions offered to represent the Protestant workers. The Protestant workers' associations rejected this because their members, some of whom were free - church , had differentiated fears of contact with everything that was Catholic. The Protestant workers' associations at the turn of the century did not want to found their own Protestant trade union because the idea of ​​a denominational trade union was generally alien to them. The Protestant workers' association recommended that its members join the apolitical and non-denominational free trade unions. However, there was a wide variety of social contacts among the young Protestant men, especially through the various youth and men's associations, of which there were over 460 in Switzerland around 1900.

"The evangelical-social movement derives its raison d'etre from the Gospel and is convinced that Christianity alone is capable of solving the social question."

- Alfred R. Ziegler : The evangelical-social movement in Switzerland

On September 25, 1906, at a works meeting of the Escher, Wyss & Co. company , the workers decided to remove the evangelical workers from the company. On September 30, 1906, the Zurich section of the youth and men’s associations of the Episcopal Methodist Church (later merged into the Evangelical Methodist Church ) met for a conference in Wetzikon , where the position of the Christian worker towards the workers’ organization was discussed. Such associations have existed in Switzerland since the end of the 18th century. In the 19th century in particular, they were a social movement that was also active in social policy. A commission elected at the conference had the task of founding an evangelical-Christian workers' organization encompassing all denominations, to protect against the hostile and anti-god attacks by the social democrats, as well as to help solve the social question based on the word of God.

"With the development of the actual evangelical labor movement, the Christian youth and men's associations in Switzerland were referred back to their original purpose - spreading the gospel among young people."

- Alfred R. Ziegler : The evangelical-social movement in Switzerland

As a result, it was decided on December 15, 1906, at the Blauer Seidenhof at Seidengasse 7 in Zurich, run by the Zurich Women's Association for Alcohol-Free Businesses , to set up a relief fund for all workers affected by strikes and lockouts. The Methodist youth and men’s associations, the YMCA , the Chrischona , the Evangelical Club House, the Blue Cross and the Protestant workers’ clubs of Zurich and Winterthur were represented . On May 20, 1907, the Swiss Protestant Social Benefit Fund SESUK was founded in Zurich . 19 sections were included from the start. They were formed mainly from the Methodist youth and men’s associations.

The Protestant Social Workers' Day from 1. – 2. June 1907 in Winterthur had historical significance. The speaker Georg Baumberger , founder of the Christian-Social Party CSP , pointed out that Christian workers are repeatedly hurt in their religious feelings by the union papers. Hermann Greulich emphasized the openness of his Swiss Federation of Trade Unions to all confessions. The delegates then decided to recommend their members to join the free trade unions. Nevertheless, some of the members join the Christian social unions. The consequence of the conference is the division of the Protestant-social workers.

History of SVEA

At the request of the largest section, Thalwil, with 154 members, the SESUK delegates' meeting decided on March 1, 1919 to develop into a union. The eventful days around the Swiss general strike of November 1918 were a major contributing factor . At a delegates' meeting on January 10, 1920, the new union of the Swiss Federation of Protestant Workers and Employees (SVEA) was decided. The new statutes were submitted to a letter ballot. These were accepted with 1288 votes in favor to 15 against. The new statutes came into effect retrospectively on January 1, 1920 and work with 2,244 members could begin.

The SVEA maintained five funds: a strike, lockout and measure fund, an unemployment fund, an old age and survivors' benefit fund (death fund) and an emergency fund. The SVEA members were automatically members of these funds. There was also a voluntary health insurance company.

In 1924 the SVEA joined the Evangelical-Positive Association of the Canton of Zurich .

In 1928, after a strike, a collective labor agreement was signed with the basalt stone company in Buchs. This was probably the first collective labor contract in the Swiss construction industry that also included holiday entitlement.

On April 10, 1928, an international working group of Protestant workers' organizations was founded, to which the SVEA also belonged.

Since the National Council of the Evangelical People's Party was partly active against trade union interests, the SVEA ran in the National Council elections in 1928 in the electoral district of Zurich with its own list under the name Evangelical Social People's Party , albeit unsuccessfully.

Around 1930 around half of the members of the SVEA belonged to the then Episcopal Methodist Church .

On July 19, 1937, the SVEA was a signatory to the industrial peace in the metal industry .

In 1939 there were 233 sections of the SVEA. Mostly these were local sections, but sometimes also individual member groups and job-specific special groups. The largest local section in 1920 was Winterthur with 217 members, in 1932 it was Zurich 4 with 411 members, and in 1941 it was the largest section with 274 members.

In 1943, due to the housing shortage, the SVEA building cooperative, which is still based in Thalwil , was founded. By 1970 she had built 1,382 apartments, most of them in the cantons of Zurich and Bern.

From 1948, the members of the Association suisse des syndicats évangéliques (ASSE) had contact offices in Geneva and Lausanne. The trigger was the joining of the Fédération ouvrière vaudoise to the SVEA.

On November 3, 1949, the Swiss Association of Protestant Sigriste, the first professional association to join the SVEA.

On January 26, 1980, the Central Board decided to release the vote on the proposal on the separation of church and state , which was rejected by the federal electorate on March 2, 1980.

The SVEA was the organizer of an Evangelical-Social Congress on various occasions .

The publication organ of the SVEA was called Evangelical-Sozial Warte , later SVEA-Nachrichten .

In 1982 he joined the Christian National Trade Union Federation of Switzerland . At the request of employers, the SVEA was also included in numerous collective labor agreements as the fourth direction within the Swiss trade unions .

The number of members rose from 2,244 when it was founded to 16,890 in 1951 and decreased to 2,430 by 1992.

In 1993 the SVEA was merged into the CMV union .

literature

  • Robert Fluder et al. a .: Trade unions and employee associations in the Swiss private sector , Zurich 1991.
  • 50 years of SVEA, Zurich 1970.
  • Bernard Degen : Draagt ​​Elkander's burdens. The Swiss Association of Protestant Workers and Employees in het kader van de Zwitserse vakbewegunging. In: Geïnspireerde organisaties. Verzuiling en ontzuiling van de Christelijk Sociale Moving. Amsterdam 2007.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Alfred R. Ziegler: The evangelical-social movement of Switzerland. (Zugl .: Zurich, Univ., Diss., 1939) Switzerland. Association of Protestant Workers and Employees, Zurich-Seebach 1939, p. 31f.
  2. ^ Alfred R. Ziegler: The evangelical-social movement of Switzerland. (Zugl .: Zurich, Univ., Diss., 1939) Switzerland. Association of Protestant Workers and Employees, Zurich-Seebach 1939, p. 35.
  3. ^ A b Strasser Rolf: Evangelical trade unions in Switzerland. The beginnings. sl 1996, text archive of the Evangelical Remote Library (accessed on: February 8, 2012).
  4. ^ Ernst Kull: The social reform workers' movement in Switzerland. Orell Füssli, Zurich / Leipzig 1930. pp. 80–81.
  5. ^ Ernst Kull: The social reform workers' movement in Switzerland. Orell Füssli, Zurich / Leipzig 1930. p. 88.
  6. ^ Alfred R. Ziegler: The evangelical-social movement of Switzerland. (Zugl .: Zurich, Univ., Diss., 1939) Switzerland. Association of Protestant Workers and Employees, Zurich-Seebach 1939, p. 1.
  7. ↑ SVEA (Ed.): 50 Years of SVEA. Retrospect and Prospect. [Zurich 1970], p. 4.
  8. ^ Alfred R. Ziegler: The evangelical-social movement of Switzerland. (Zugl .: Zurich, Univ., Diss., 1939) Switzerland. Association of Protestant Workers and Employees, Zurich-Seebach 1939, p. 21.
  9. ^ Alfred R. Ziegler: The evangelical-social movement of Switzerland. (Zugl .: Zurich, Univ., Diss., 1939) Switzerland. Association of Protestant Workers and Employees, Zurich-Seebach 1939, p. 57f.
  10. ^ Alfred R. Ziegler: The evangelical-social movement of Switzerland. (Zugl .: Zurich, Univ., Diss., 1939) Switzerland. Association of Protestant Workers and Employees, Zurich-Seebach 1939, p. 28.
  11. ^ Alfred R. Ziegler: The evangelical-social movement of Switzerland. (Zugl .: Zurich, Univ., Diss., 1939) Switzerland. Association of Protestant Workers and Employees, Zurich-Seebach 1939, p. 58f.
  12. ^ Robert Barth : Protestantism, social question and socialism in the canton of Zurich 1830-1914. ( Publications of the Institute for Social Ethics at the University of Zurich. Volume 8) Theologischer Verlag, Zurich 1981, p. 146f.
  13. ↑ SVEA (Ed.): 50 Years of SVEA. Retrospect and Prospect. [Zurich 1970], pp. 6-10.
  14. ^ Alfred R. Ziegler: The evangelical-social movement of Switzerland. (Zugl .: Zurich, Univ., Diss., 1939) Switzerland. Association of Protestant Workers and Employees, Zurich-Seebach 1939, p. 89f.
  15. ^ Ernst Kull: The social reform workers' movement in Switzerland. Orell Füssli, Zurich / Leipzig 1930. p. 90.
  16. ↑ SVEA (Ed.): 50 Years of SVEA. Retrospect and Prospect. [Zurich 1970], p. 13f.
  17. ^ Ernst Kull: The social reform workers' movement in Switzerland. Orell Füssli, Zurich / Leipzig 1930. p. 138.
  18. ^ Ernst Kull: The social reform workers' movement in Switzerland. Orell Füssli, Zurich / Leipzig 1930. p. 125.
  19. ^ Evangelical Social Library Association Wetzikon: Archive SVEA
  20. ↑ Swiss Social Archives: SVEA