Switzerland 1908

Synopsis

Beginning in the 1880s, Christian trade unions formed in the industrial areas of the Rhine region. At the beginning of the twentieth century, national federations came into being. Delegates of the existing national federations convened in Zurich, Switzerland, on 2-5 August 1908, at the invitation of the Cologne office of the German confederation of Christian unions. They founded an international secretariat housed in Cologne, Germany, under the direction of Adam Stegerwald. Members included all national federations of Christian unions: German, Belgian, Dutch, Austrian, Italian, Swiss, and Polish. France was not represented because the Christian unions there were not yet brought together in such a national federation. Dutch Catholic unions did not join at this time, but the separate Protestant union federation did. A Swedish group was represented initially but dropped out. The make-up of the member federations was predominantly Roman Catholic...