The Industrial Union of Metal (german: Industriegewerkschaft Metall, IG Metall) 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 workers in the metal and electronic industries in East Germany. The union was founded on 13 June 1946, in the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...

of Germany. By the end of the month, it had 421,558 members, making it the largest component of the new

Free German Trade Union Federation The Free German Trade Union Federation (german: Freier Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund or ''FDGB'') was the sole national trade union centre of the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) which existed from 1946 and 1990. As a mass organisat ...

(FDGB). In 1951, metallurgical workers were moved into a new Industrial Union of Metallurgy, but in 1958 they returned. In recognition of this, the union was renamed the Industrial Union of Metal and Metallurgy, but the following year, it returned to its former, shorter, name. Internationally, the union was an affiliate of the

Trade Union International of Workers in the Metal Industry The Trade Union International of Workers in the Metal Industry was a trade union international affiliated to the World Federation of Trade Unions. History The TUI was founded at a conference in Turin, Italy on June 2, 1949 as the Trade Union In ...

. The union was also involved in sports associations, initially called SV Mechanik, and later, SV Motor, as seen in

SV Motor Altenburg SV Motor Altenburg is a football in Germany, German football club from the city of Altenburg, Thuringia. The club was established 8 March 1946 as the postwar successor to ''Eintracht 1908 Altenburg'' and was part of East Germany, East German foo ...

. The union continued to grow, and by January 1989, it had 1,819,356 members, 18.9% of all FDGB members. In December 1989, it signed a co-operation agreement with the West German

IG Metall IG Metall (; IGM; German: ''Industriegewerkschaft Metall'', "Industrial Union of Metalworkers'") is the dominant metalworkers' union in Germany, making it the country's largest union as well as Europe's largest industrial union. Analysts of Ger ...

, and in April 1990, it became an independent union. However, in May, the West German union's attitude changed, and it decided instead to set up its own branches in East Germany. As a result, at the end of the year, the East German union dissolved, asking its members to join the West German union as individuals, about 900,000 doing so.

Presidents

:1946: Paul Peschke :1949: Fritz Philipp :1950: Emil Otto :1952: Hans Schmidt :1953: Rolf Berger :1957: Herbert Dönitz :1960: Rolf Berger :1961: Reinhard Sommer :1988: Gerhard Nennstiel :1989: Hartwig Bugiel

References

{{Authority control Metal trade unions Trade unions established in 1946 Trade unions disestablished in 1990 Trade unions in East Germany