Menzo ter Borch (1896–1981) was a Dutch trade unionist. Born in Borger, ter Borch became a glassblower in 1908, working in Nieuw-Buinen, then

Schiedam Schiedam () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen, and south of Delft. In the south the city is connected with the village ...

, and then in Nieuw-Buinen. His parents died in the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

epidemic of 1918, and he then became responsible for bringing up some of his younger siblings. Ter Borch joined the Glass and Pottery union, and from 1921 was an unpaid member of its executive. In 1926, it merged into the

Dutch Union of Factory Workers General Union of Miscellaneous Industries ( nl, Algemene Bedrijfsgroepen Centrale, ABC) was a general union in the Netherlands, focusing on manufacturing industries. History The union was founded in 1907 by Roel Stenhuis, as the Dutch Union of Fact ...

(NVvFA). He also joined the Social Democratic Workers' Party, becoming in 1923 one of its first members to win election to the Stadskanaal local council. In 1931, ter Borch began working for the union full-time, moving to

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, and was also appointed to its executive. He was soon elected to the council in Groningen. At the start of

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 ...

, he tried to leave the country, but was prevented from doing so. In 1940, he was appointed to the Groningen Provincial Council, as a replacement for F. J. Schaper, who was trying to maintain a low profile in the hope of avoiding persecution. In 1941, both councils were disbanded by the occupying Nazis, and the union was taken over by them, leading ter Borch to resign from it. In 1941, ter Borch was arrested and placed in concentration camps until 1943, when he was unexpectedly released. He returned to working as a glassblower, to support his family, until the end of the war. The councils were then reconstituted, ter Borch again taking his seat, and he also became prominent in reconstructing the trade union movement. Ter Borch became the chief administrator of the NVvFA in 1946, and then in 1950 became president of the renamed General Union of Miscellaneous Industries (ABC), moving to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. In 1954, he additionally became general secretary of the International Federation of Industrial Organisations and General Workers' Unions (IFF). He retired from the leadership of the ABC in 1961, and the IFF in 1964, but remained active in the trade union movement in retirement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borch, Menzo ter 1896 births 1981 deaths Dutch trade unionists People from Borger-Odoorn Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands) politicians