The International Federation of Building Workers (IFBW) was a

global union federation A global union federation (GUF) is an international federation of national trade unions organizing in specific industry sectors or occupational groups. Historically, such federations in the social democratic tradition described as international t ...

bringing together unions representing masons.

History

The German

Central Union of Masons The Central Union of Masons (german: Zentralverband der Maurer) was a trade union representing bricklayers in Germany. Regular conferences of masons were held in Germany in the 1880s. With the repeal of the Anti-Socialist Laws, it was possible ...

gradually built up international contacts in the late 19th-century. In 1903, it called a conference in Berlin, to formalise these relationships by establishing an international trade federation. The federation was established as the Building Workers' International, and was based in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

from its foundation. By 1925, most of its member unions had merged with the carpenters' unions in their country, and so it agreed to absorb the

Carpenters' International The Carpenters' International (german: Zimmerer-Internationale) was a global union federation bringing together unions representing carpenters. The federation was established on 1 April 1903, on the initiative of the Central Union of Carpenters an ...

. This gave it 26 affiliates, with a total of 756,059 members. On 1 April 1934, the federation merged with the

International Federation of Wood Workers The International Union of Woodworkers (IUW) was a global union federation bringing together unions representing wood carvers, carpenters and joiners. History In 1891, the Belgian union of woodworkers organised the First International Wood Workers' ...

, to form the

International Federation of Building and Wood Workers The International Federation of Building and Wood Workers (IFBWW) was a global union federation of trade unions in the building, building materials, wood, forestry and allied industries. History The federation was established in 1934 by a merg ...

Affiliates

The following unions were affiliated as of 1922:

General Secretaries

:1903:

Theodor Bömelburg Theodor Bömelburg (27 September 1862 – 17 October 1912) was a German trade unionist and politician. Bömelburg was born in Westönnen, now part of Werl, in the Kingdom of Prussia. He completed an apprenticeship as a bricklayer and plastere ...

:1913:

Fritz Paeplow Friedrich Paeplow (17 May 1860 – 19 January 1934) was a German trade unionist and politician. Born in Zirkow, Paeplow completed an apprenticeship as a bricklayer, and moved to Chemnitz in his journeyman years. He joined the Social Democrati ...

:1919: Georg Käppler :1933:

Jaap van Achterbergh Jacob Willem van Achterbergh (15 November 1882 – 15 September 1948) was a Dutch trade union leader. Born in Amersfoort, Achterbergh was a founding member of the Central Union of Building Workers. In 1920, it merged into the new General Dutc ...

Presidents

:1919:

:1927: :1933: Nikolaus Bernhard

References

{{Authority control Trade unions established in 1903 Trade unions disestablished in 1934 International Federation of Building and Wood Workers