The Christian National Trade Union Federation ( nl, Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond, CNV) is a federation of

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 ( ...

s of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

History

The CNV was founded on 13 May 1909, in

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...

as a federation of several Christian unions. It was founded in reaction to the socialist

Dutch Confederation of Trade Unions The Dutch Confederation of Trade Unions ( nl, Nederlands Verbond van Vakverenigingen, NVV) was a Dutch social-democratic trade union. History The NVV was founded in 1906 as a merger of fifteen smaller unions, as a result of the inability of the ...

(NVV), which was founded in 1906. The CNV was more moderate than the NVV. It opposed the idea of

class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

and instead oriented itself towards a corporatist model of the economy. It was an interconfessional union, intended to represent both

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

and

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

workers. In 1912, however, the Roman Catholic bishops spoke out against interconfessional unions. All Roman Catholics left CNV and founded a separate Roman Catholic union, the RKWV "

Rooms-Katholieke Werklieden Verbond The Dutch Catholic Trade Union Federation ( nl, Nederlands Katholiek Vakverbond, NKV) was a national trade union centre bringing together Catholic trade unions in the Netherlands. The federation was established in 1925, as the Roman Catholic Worke ...

" (Roman Catholic Workers' Union). The CNV orientated itself towards the Protestant

Anti-Revolutionary Party The Anti-Revolutionary Party ( nl, Anti-Revolutionaire Partij, ARP) was a Protestant conservative and Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1879 by Abraham Kuyper, a neo-Calvinist theologian and m ...

, with which it formed the Protestant

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

. After

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 ...

, the corporatist model, which the CNV advocated was introduced in the Netherlands, this was combined with a strong

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...

. Unions received more influence in Dutch politics: the CNV became part of the

Social-Economic Council The Social and Economic Council ( Dutch: ''Sociaal-Economische Raad'', SER) is a major economic advisory council to the cabinet of the Netherlands. Formally it heads a system of sector-based regulatory organisations. It represents the social pa ...

an advisory board of government composed of representatives from unions, employers' organisations and independent scientists. Because of the depillarisation of Dutch society and the rising political polarisation between left and right, the three major unions, the socialist NVV, the Protestant CNV and the

Dutch Catholic Trade Union Federation The Dutch Catholic Trade Union Federation ( nl, Nederlands Katholiek Vakverbond, NKV) was a national trade union centre bringing together Catholic trade unions in the Netherlands. The federation was established in 1925, as the Roman Catholic Worke ...

(NKV) began to open talks in order to found one single federation of Dutch unions. In 1974 the CNV left those talks. In 1976 the NVV and NKV merged to form the

Federation of Dutch Trade Unions The Federation of Dutch Trade Unions ( nl, Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging, FNV) is a national trade union centre in the Netherlands. In addition to member unions, workers in many sectors can join the FNV directly. History The FNV was founded ...

(FNV), which was led by

Wim Kok Willem "Wim" Kok (; 29 September 1938 – 20 October 2018) was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.employers' federation An employers' organization or employers' association is a collective organization of manufacturers, retailers, or other employers of wage labor. Employers' organizations seek to coordinate the behavior of their member companies in matters of mutua ...

s. It also advises government via the

Social Economic Council The Social and Economic Council (Dutch: ''Sociaal-Economische Raad'', SER) is a major economic advisory council to the cabinet of the Netherlands. Formally it heads a system of sector-based regulatory organisations. It represents the social par ...

in which other unions, the employers' organisations and government appointed experts also have seats.

Ideology

The CNV started out as a moderate, Christian-democratic union, which was opposed to

and workers' ownership of the means of production. Gradually, however, it oriented itself towards cooperation with the employers' organisations and a corporatist model of the economy. The CNV still prefers cooperating with employers over

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

s. In recent years it has been more successful in adapting to new societal trends compared to the FNV. It has founded a youth union, CNV-jongeren to address the issues of the

ageing population Population ageing is an increasing median age in a population because of declining fertility rates and rising life expectancy. Most countries have rising life expectancy and an ageing population, trends that emerged first in developed countries ...

and it has campaigned on issues of international cooperation with a separate organisation called CNV international.

Organisation

The CNV is a federation of three affiliated trade unions. Its board is formed by four daily board members (a chairman, a vice-chairman, a secretary and a treasurer), and the chairs of the affiliated unions. The CNV has around 355,000 members. The current chair is

Maurice Limmen Maurice may refer to: People *Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr *Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor * Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and L ...

. Although the CNV is formally independent of other organisations there are strong ideological and personal links with the CDA. Former CNV vice chair

Aart-Jan de Geus Aart Jan de Geus (born 28 July 1955) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and businessman. He served as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs from 2002 to 2007. Then he worked as Deputy Secretary-General for ...

served between 2002 and 2007 as CDA minister of Social Affairs and Employment for instance.

Affiliates

Current affiliates

Former affiliates

Presidents

:1909: Hendrik Diemer :1916: Klaas Kruithof :1935: Antoon Stapelkamp :1947: Marinus Ruppert :1959: Cor van Mastrigt :1964: Jan van Eibergen :1969: Jan Lanser :1978: Harm van der Meulen :1986: Henk Hofstede :1992: Anton Westerlaken :1998: Doekle Terpstra :2005: Josine Westerbeek-Huitink :2005: René Paas :2009: Bert van Boggelen :2010:

Jaap Smit Jaap Smit (born 8 March 1957) is a Dutch preacher, manager, trade unionist and government official serving as the King's Commissioner of South Holland since 2014. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he previously led the Christia ...

:2014: Maurice Limmen :2018: Arend van Wijngaarden :2020: Piet Fortuin

References

External links

Archief CNV
at the

International Institute of Social History The International Institute of Social History (IISH/IISG) is one of the largest archives of labor and social history in the world. Located in Amsterdam, its one million volumes and 2,300 archival collections include the papers of major figu ...

{{Authority control International Trade Union Confederation European Trade Union Confederation 1909 establishments in the Netherlands National trade union centers of the Netherlands Trade unions established in 1909