The Public Services, Transport and Traffic Union (german: Gewerkschaft Öffentliche Dienste, Transport und Verkehr, ÖTV) was a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

representing transport and public service workers in West Germany. The union was founded in 1949, at a meeting

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. Unlike ithe pre-war

General Union of Public Sector and Transport Workers The General Union of Public Sector and Transport Workers (german: Gesamtverband der Arbeitnehmer der öffentlichen Betriebe und des Personen- und Warenverkehrs, GV) was a trade union representing workers in various industries in Germany. History F ...

, it did not represent postal workers (who joined the

German Postal Union The German Postal Union (german: Deutsche Postgewerkschaft, DPG) was a trade union representing postal workers in Germany. The union was founded at a conference held on 29 and 30 June 1949, in Stuttgart. It initially had 140,000 members, the va ...

), nor commercial workers, but it was nonetheless the second-largest union in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. By 1951, it had 785,000 members, and during the 1950s it concluded many collective bargaining agreements with states and municipalities. It affiliated to both the

International Transport Workers' Federation The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017 the ITF had 677 member organizations in 149 countries, representing a combined membership ...

, and the

Public Services International Public Services International (PSI) is the global union federation for workers in public services, including those who work in social services, health care, municipal services, central government and public utilities. , PSI has 700 affiliated ...

. The union strongly supported the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of eve ...

, and in June 1990, some trade unionists in Magdeberg founded the ÖTV in the GDR. In October, Germany was reunified, and this union merged into the main ÖTV, which began recruiting members across East Germany. In 1994, the union was restructured, with its 41 departments grouped into six sections. By 1998, it had 1,582,776 members. It began working closely with the

German Salaried Employees' Union The German Salaried Employees' Union, in German ''Deutsche Angestellten-Gewerkschaft'' (DAG) was an independent trade union based in Hamburg. It did not belong to the German Confederation of Trade Unions until it became part of ver.di, the unit ...

(DAG), and in 2001, it merged with the DAG, the

, the

Media Union The Media Union (german: IG Medien – Druck und Papier, Publizistik und Kunst) was a trade union representing German workers in the printing, paper, journalism and arts. The union was founded on 15 April 1989 at a meeting in Hamburg, with the me ...

, and the

Trade, Banking and Insurance Union The Trade, Banking and Insurance Union (german: Gewerkschaft Handel, Banken und Versicherungen, HBV) was a trade union representing workers in commerce and finance in Germany. During 1947 and 1948, German trade unionists were regrouping and the ma ...

, to form

Ver.di (''Verdi'' (stylized as ''ver.di''; �vɛʁdiː; German: ''United Services Trade Union'') is a German trade union based in Berlin, Germany. It was established on 19 March 2001 as the result of a merger of five individual unions and is a memb ...

Presidents

:1949:

Adolph Kummernuss Adolph Kummernuss (23 June 1895 – 7 August 1979) was a German trade union leader. Born in Hamburg, Kummernuss found work in the city's port, and joined the youth wing of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), then in 1912 became a ful ...

:1964:

Heinz Kluncker Heinz Kluncker (February 20, 1925 (Wuppertal) – April 21, 2005 ( Stuttgart)) was president of the German trade union ÖTV (''Öffentliche Dienste, Transport und Verkehr'' Public service, transport and traffic) from 1964 to 1982. Kluncker was co ...

:1982:

Monika Wulf-Mathies Monika Wulf-Mathies (born 1942) is a German politician, who was European Commissioner for Regional Policy. Early life Wulf-Mathies was born in the rural town of Wernigerode in 1942 after her family was evacuated from wartime Hamburg. Career In 1 ...

:1994: Herbert Mai :2000:

Frank Bsirske Frank Bsirske (born 10 February 1952) is a German trade unionist and politician and of Alliance 90/The Greens who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since 2021. From 2001 to 2019, he was the chairman of the United Services Trade Unio ...

References

{{Authority control Public sector trade unions Transport trade unions in Germany Trade unions established in 1949 Trade unions disestablished in 2001 Trade unions in Germany