The Wismut Industrial Union (german: Industriegewerkschaft Wismut, IG W) 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 at the
Wismut uranium mining company.
From 1946, workers at Wismut were represented by the
Industrial Union of Mining, part of the
Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB). However, due to the secretive nature of the work they undertook, under the control of the Soviet Union, they were placed in an autonomous section. In 1950, the FDGB decided to move the workers into their own dedicated union, the "Wismut Industrial Union". It was based in
Karl-Marx-Stadt
Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 28th largest city of Germany as ...
, and led
sports associations such as
SC Karl-Marx-Stadt
SC Karl-Marx-Stadt was a sports club located at Karl-Marx-Stadt in the German Democratic Republic.
Established in 1945, the sports club went through a variation of name changes until 1 July 1963, settling with SC Karl-Marx-Stadt, which lasted unt ...
, and also the popular orchestra, Orchester der IG Wismut.
[Karl-Peter Fleischer: ''Das Orchester der IG Wimut und seine Dirigenten''. Eigenverlag, Chemnitz 2009, ]
Membership of the union gradually declined, along with employment by the company, and by 1989, it had 65,555 members. In March 1990, it became independent, and it dissolved in October, its members transferring to the
Union of Mining and Energy.
Presidents
:1950: Richard Leppi
:1951: Heinz Raeder
:1952: Werner Lucas
:1955: Heinz Schönfeld
:1966: Herbert Strienitz
:1985: Gotthard Stark
:1990: Dieter May
References
{{Authority control
Mining trade unions
Trade unions established in 1946
Trade unions disestablished in 1990
Trade unions in East Germany