The Association of Employees, Technicians and Managers ( nl, Bond van Bedienden, Technici en Kaderleden, BBTK; french: Syndicat des Employés, Techniciens et Cadres, SETCa) is 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 white collar staff in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. The union was founded in 1920, as the General Union of Employees, Warehousemen, Technicians and Travelling Salesmen of Belgium, with about 12,000 members. It ceased to operate during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, but was re-established in 1945, under its current name, as an affiliate of the new

General Federation of Belgian Labour The General Labour Federation of Belgium (french: Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique, or FGTB; nl, Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond, ABVV) is a socialist national trade union federation in Belgium. It was founded in 1945. It is affiliated ...

(ABVV). The union grew during the 1950s and 1960s, establishing joint industrial committees across the sectors it covered, and the union led campaigns for

early retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

. The 1970s and 1980s saw more

industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike action, strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay a ...

in protest at cuts to jobs and government spending, culminating in the 1993 general strike. By 1995, the union had more than 200,000 members, with 25% working in commerce and catering, 25% in production, 20% in banking and finance, and the remainder spread across a wide variety of industries. In 1996, the

Paper and Publishing Industry Union The Paper and Publishing Industry Union ( nl, Centrale der Boek- en Papiernijverheid, CBP; french: Centrale de l'industrie du Livre et du Papier, CLP) was a trade union representing workers in the graphical industries in Belgium. The union was foun ...

merged in to the BBTK.

Presidents

:1945: Charles Everling :1956: Oscar Leclercq :1971: Maurice Massay :1977: François Janssens :1990: Karel Boeykens :1992: Christian Roland :2006: Erwin De Deyn :2019: Myriam Delmée

External links

*{{official website, http://www.bbtk.org/

References

Clerical trade unions Finance sector trade unions Trade unions in Belgium Trade unions established in 1920 1920 establishments in Belgium