International Union of Woodworkers

The International Union of Woodworkers (IUW) was a global union federation bringing together unions representing wood carvers, carpenters and joiners.

History

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In 1891, the Belgian union of woodworkers organised the First International Wood Workers' Congress, in Brussels. The conference established an international information service, and this organised a further congress in Zurich in 1893, then a conference of woodworkers was organised in London in 1896, alongside the International Labour Congress. However, the information service then ceased to operate, and new international links were not established until 1899. In 1904, this led to the establishment of the International Union of Woodworkers at a conference in Amsterdam.[1]

The federation was based in Stuttgart until 1909, then in Berlin, and from 1920 in Amsterdam. By 1925, it had 44 affiliates in 25 countries, with a total of 1,000,876 members.[1] That year, the small Carpenters' International merged into it.[2]

On 1 April 1934, the federation merged with the Building Workers' International, to form the International Federation of Building and Wood Workers.[3]

Affiliates

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The following unions were affiliated in 1929:

Union[4]Country
Amalgamated Society of WoodworkersUnited Kingdom
Danish Union of JoinersDenmark
General Dutch Union of Furniture Makers, Wallpapers and Related WorkersNetherlands
General Union of Building, Furnishing and Other IndustriesBelgium
General Workers' Union of YugoslaviaYugoslavia
German Wood Workers' UnionGermany
Magyarországi Famunkazok SzövetségeHungary
National Amalgamated Furnishing Trades AssociationUnited Kingdom
Norwegian Sawmill, Site and Planing Workers' UnionNorway
Norwegian Union of Building WorkersNorway
Norwegian Union of Furniture MakersNorway
Swedish Building Wood Workers' UnionSweden
Swedish Forest Workers' UnionSweden
Swedish Sawmill Industry Workers' UnionSweden
Swedish Wood Industry Workers' UnionSweden
Swiss Construction and Woodworkers' UnionSwitzerland
Unie DrevodelnikuCzechoslovakia
Union of Austrian WoodworkersAustria
Union of Woodworkers and TurnersCzechoslovakia
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and JoinersUnited States/Canada
Wood Workers' UnionFinland
Zwiazwk robotnikow przemyslu drzewnego w PolscePoland

General Secretaries

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1904: Theodor Leipart[1]
1920: Kees Woudenberg[1]
1929: Fritz Tarnow
1933: Willem Hauwaert

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Sassenbach, Johannes (1926). Twenty-five years of international trade unionism. Amsterdam: International Federation of Trade Unions. p. 115–116.
  2. ^ Wolgast, Wilhelm (1931). Zentralverband der Zimmerer und verwandter Berufsgenossen. ADGB. pp. 2111–2112. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  3. ^ Repertoire des organisations internationales. Geneva: League of Nations. 1936. pp. 255–256.
  4. ^ "Affiliates". International Union of Woodworkers: Report on Activities: 75–76. 1929.