Union of Manual and Intellectual Workers
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The Union of Manual and Intellectual Workers (Union der Hand- und Kopfarbeiter) was a German trade union that was politically close to the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). It was formed in the period after the German Revolution of 1918–19 and existed to the end of 1925.
History
The Union was formed in September 1921 by the merger of three left-wing trade unions that had not joined the Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, which they, like other radicalized workers in the General Workers Union of Germany (Allgemeine Arbeiter-Union Deutschlands) and the Free Workers' Union of Germany had felt was reformist. The three unions were the Gelsenkirchen Free Workers' Union, the Berlin-based Association of Manual and Intellectual Workers and the Braunschweig-based Farmworkers' Association (Landarbeiterverband).[1] At the national level, the newly-merged Union became part of the Profintern. The Union's was mainly focused in the Ruhr region and bordering areas, as well as in the Berlin area. The dominant industries were mining and metalworking.
At its inception, the Union had roughly 90,000 members. Between 1922 and 1923, it grew to over 100,000 members. Although losing members by the end of 1923, it still had the strongest voice in Ruhr region mining council elections in 1924. The Union's membership contained many radicals, many of whom were undisciplined.[2] In the Ruhr region, about half the KPD members who were members of various trade unions were also members of the Union.[2]
Im Rahmen der Umstellung der Politik der KPD auf die Mitarbeit in den Freien Gewerkschaften traten die Mitglieder der u.a. von Gustav Sobottka, Arthur Hammer und Anton Jadasch geleiteten Union (Ende 1924 noch knapp über 20.000, August 1925 8.000) nach zunächst erheblichen innerorganisatorischen Widerständen bis Ende 1925 ADGB-Gewerkschaften bei.
Bibliography
- Eva Cornelia Schöck, Arbeitslosigkeit und Rationalisierung. Die Lage der Arbeiter und die kommunistische Gewerkschaftspolitik 1920-28. Frankfurt am Main/New York 1977 ISBN 3-593-32537-3, v.a. pp. 88-113 and p. 249 Template:De icon
- Hermann Weber, Die Wandlung des deutschen Kommunismus. Die Stalinisierung der KPD in der Weimarer Republik. Band 1. Frankfurt/Main 1969, v.a. S. 68f, p. 98f and p. 168 Template:De icon
References
- ^ Political prisoners of Oranienburg concentration camp: Biography of Maximilian Trauselt Stiftung Brandenburgische Gedenkstätten/Brandenburg, Ravensbrück, Sachsenhausen. Retrieved August 12, 2011 Template:De icon
- ^ a b Eric D. Weitz, Origins of the RGO Creating German Communism, 1890-1990: From Popular Protests to Socialist State, Princeton University Press (1997) pp. 151-153. Retrieved August 12, 2011.