Wilhelm Gefeller

Wilhelm Gefeller (born May 27, 1906 in Essen , † March 25, 1983 in Gehrden ) was a German trade unionist and social democrat ( SPD politician ).

education and profession

He learned the trade of a machine fitter and then attended the mechanical engineering school in Essen and the commercial school in Bottrop . At the end of the 1920s, like many of his contemporaries, he became unemployed. He later worked for Ruhr-Öl GmbH in Bottrop, where he was also chairman of the works council in 1945/46.

SPD

Gefeller had been a member of the SPD since 1945 and was a member of the German Bundestag from 1953 to 1957.

Union work

After 1945 Gefeller was one of the founders of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB) and the IG Chemie-Papier-Keramik . He was initially deputy chairman, then from the beginning of 1949 to 1969 first chairman of the chemical union.

During Gefeller's tenure, his association developed into the third largest individual union in the DGB. After trade unions were banned by the Nazi dictatorship , he turned against the sometimes arbitrary dismantling of chemical industrial plants and against the complete break-up of the IG Farben group in order to maintain jobs in the chemical industry and the efficiency of one of the most important German branches of industry.

As a trade unionist, Gefeller advocated the expansion of qualified participation and pleaded for a democratization of the economy and other parts of society.

From 1964 to 1969 he was also President of the International Federation of Chemical and Factory Workers. In 1981 Wilhelm Gefeller was awarded the Hans Böckler Prize .

Individual evidence

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