The Christian Democratic Workers Association (''Christlich-Demokratische Arbeitnehmerschaft'') (CDA)Gerd-Rainer Horn, Emmanuel Gerard, ''Left Catholicism: Catholics and society in Western Europe at the point of liberation, 1943-1955'', Leuven University Press, 2001 is an association connected with the Christian Democratic Union (Germany) with the substantive focus on "social policy". Another competing self-designation is "CDU social committee". The Christian-Socials (''Christlich-Soziale'') are one of the three major groups within the CDU in addition to the Liberals and the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

. Thus social committees from the Christian-social movement have emerged within the CDU. The headquarters of the Foundation is

Königswinter Königswinter ( ksh, Köningkswinte; Low Franconian: ) is a town and summer resort in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Königswinter is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, opposite Bad Godesberg, at t ...

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

, while there is an office in Berlin.

History

The CDA was created after the Second World War, by mostly Christian

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 ...

ists in the industrial areas of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

. The official establishment of the CDA was in 1946 at Kolping House in Herne, Germany. In the early years the CDA's program concerned mainly issues such as the health and safety of workers and their conditions in the factories. Since the association adopted the Offenburger Declaration in 1967, its focus moved to wider societal issues. Priorities of the CDA today cover pension, health and family policy, in addition to labor and social policy.

Internal Structure

Subsidiary bodies of the CDU social committees include its

Youth movement The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted otherwise. ...

, the Youth CDA, former Young Workers Association and the Association of Women in the CDA. The Youth CDA was founded in 1947 also in Herne. The Youth CDA is organized into 15 regional associations, all members of the CDA are up to 35 years of age are automatically a member of the Youth CDA.

Chairmen

* 1947–1949

Johannes Albers Johannes Albers (March 8, 1890 – March 8, 1963) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and former member of the German Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the on ...

* 1949–1958

Jakob Kaiser Jakob Kaiser (8 February 1888 – 7 May 1961) was a German politician and resistance leader during World War II. Jakob Kaiser was born in Hammelburg, Lower Franconia, Kingdom of Bavaria. Following in his father's footsteps, Kaiser began a career ...

* 1958

Karl Arnold Karl Arnold (21 March 1901 – 29 June 1958) was a German politician. He was Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1947 to 1956. Early life and education Arnold was born in Herrlishöfen in Württemberg on 21 March 1901. He was tr ...

* 1958–1963

* 1963–1977

Hans Katzer Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

* 1977–1987

Norbert Blüm Norbert Blüm (21 July 1935 – 23 April 2020) was a German politician who served as a federal legislator from North Rhine-Westphalia, chairman of the CDU North Rhine-Westphalia (1987–1999), and Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. Bl� ...

* 1987–1993

Ulf Fink Ulf Fink is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and former member of the German Bundestag. Life In 1994, Fink was elected to the German Bundestag via the state list of Brandenburg, of which he was a member for two legi ...

* 1993

Werner Schreiber Werner may refer to: People * Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name Fictional characters * Werner (comics), a German comic book character * Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Rai ...

* 1994–2001

Rainer Eppelmann Rainer Eppelmann () (born 12 February 1943 in Berlin), is a German politician. Known for his opposition in the German Democratic Republic, he became Minister for Disarmament and Defense in the last cabinet. He is now a member of the CDU. The ...

* 2001–2004 Hermann-Josef Arentz * 2004–2005 Gerald Weiß * Since 2005,

Karl-Josef Laumann Karl-Josef Laumann (born 11 July 1957) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Since 2017, he has been the State Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia, an office he previously held between ...

References

{{Authority control Christian Democratic Union of Germany