Pieter Feddes Hiemstra (4 August 1878 – 9 January 1953) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

trade union leader and politician. Born in Húns to a farming family, Hiemstra hoped to become a schoolteacher, but could not afford the training, and so worked as a cook, then as an apprentice painter, but at the age of 14, he switched to farm work. He worked for Ate de Gavere, a socialist, and this led Hiemstra to also become a socialist. He then spent some time working in Germany, and in the Dutch military, gradually moving into dairy work, and then becoming a cheese maker. Hiemstra was an early member of the Union of Dairy Workers, and in 1904, he became its president, working nearly full-time for the union from 1905. In 1908, the union affiliated to the

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 p ...

(NVV), and the following year, Hiemstra took it into a merger with the New Dutch Agricultural Workers' Union, forming the Federation of Agricultural and Dairy Workers. He became the union's secretary, then from 1912 was its president and editor of its journal, ''Vereenigt U''. Hiemstra also joined the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP), and later became the chair of its

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

executive. However, he argued that the trade union movement should maintain its distance from the SDAP. He was elected to the Leeuwarden municipal council in 1912, and the Frisian States in 1913. Under Hiemstra's leadership, the union grew, and in 1920, it organised a conference which led to the formation of the

International Landworkers' Federation The International Landworkers' Federation (ILF) was a global union federation bringing together trade unions representing agricultural and forestry workers. History The federation was established in 1920 at a conference in Amsterdam, and set up i ...

(ILF). Hiemstra became its first general secretary, although in 1924 its headquarters were moved to Germany to save on translation costs, and he switched to become vice president. In 1933, the headquarters returned to the Netherlands, and he once again became general secretary. The union's office moved to

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

in 1921, and Hiemstra also relocated. The same year, he was elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, where he argued for shorter working hours and better benefits for agricultural workers. In 1927, he was elected to the Utrecht provincial council. Hiemstra retired from the House of Representatives and the ILF in 1937, the union in 1938, and the provincial council in 1939. He served as a member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 1937 until 1946.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hiemstra, Piet 1878 births 1953 deaths Dutch trade unionists Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) People from Friesland Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands) politicians