Pieter de Vries (1897 – November 1975) 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. De Vries became a sailor when he was 18, and joined a trade union two years later. From 1927 to 1931, he worked for the Amsterdam Chamber of Trade in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. He then returned to the Netherlands, and in 1932, he became the assistant secretary of the Master Mariners' and Mates' Union. He held the post until 1942, when the Nazis dissolved all the Dutch trade unions. In 1947, de Vries was elected as president of the Netherlands Seafarers' and Fishermen's Union. The following year, he was additionally elected as president of the

International Mercantile Marine Officers' Association The International Mercantile Marine Officers' Association (IMMOA) was a global union federation bringing together trade unions representing officers in merchant navies. History The federation was established on 16 June 1925, at a meeting attended ...

, although this organisation was largely inactive, so the role involved little work. He also became prominent in the

International Transport Workers' Federation The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017 the ITF had 677 member organizations in 149 countries, representing a combined membership ...

(ITF), becoming the chair of its Fishermen's Section. De Vries retired from his position in the Dutch union in 1958. He relocated to London to become the ITF's Director of Regional Affairs. The ITF's general secretary,

Omer Becu Omer Liévin Benjamin Becu (21 August 1902 – 9 October 1982) was a Belgian trade unionist, who became General Secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Born in Ostend, Becu trained as a radio operator and joined the ...

, left to take a new role in 1960, and with his backing, de Vries was narrowly elected as his successor. He was re-elected by fewer than 500 votes in 1962, and retired in 1965.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vries, Pieter De 1897 births 1975 deaths Dutch trade unionists