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The Christian Democratic Workers Association (''Christlich-Demokratische Arbeitnehmerschaft'') (CDA)Gerd-Rainer Horn, Emmanuel Gerard, ''Left Catholicism: Catholics and society in Western Europe at the point of liberation, 1943-1955'', Leuven University Press, 2001 is an association connected with the Christian Democratic Union with the substantive focus on "social policy". Another competing self-designation is "CDU social committee". The Christian-Socials (''Christlich-Soziale'') are one of the three major groups within the CDU in addition to the Liberals and the
Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
. Thus social committees from the Christian-social movement have emerged within the CDU. The headquarters of the Foundation is
Königswinter Königswinter (; ; Low Franconian: ) is a town and summer resort in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Königswinter is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, opposite Bad Godesberg, at the foot of the ...
in
Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
, while there is an office in Berlin.


History

The CDA was created after the Second World War, by mostly
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
ists in the industrial areas of
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
. The official establishment of the CDA was in 1946 at Kolping House in
Herne, Germany Herne () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area directly between the cities of Bochum, and Gelsenkirchen. History Herne (ancient Haranni) was a tiny village until the 19th century. When the mining of coal ...
. In the early years the CDA's program concerned mainly issues such as the health and safety of workers and their conditions in the factories. Since the association adopted the Offenburger Declaration in 1967, its focus moved to wider societal issues. Priorities of the CDA today cover pension, health and family policy, in addition to labor and social policy.


Internal Structure

Subsidiary bodies of the CDU social committees include its
Youth movement The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted otherwise. ...
, the Youth CDA, former Young Workers Association and the Association of Women in the CDA. The Youth CDA was founded in 1947 also in Herne. The Youth CDA is organized into 15 regional associations, all members of the CDA are up to 35 years of age are automatically a member of the Youth CDA.


Chairmen

* 1947–1949 Johannes Albers * 1949–1958 Jakob Kaiser * 1958 Karl Arnold * 1958–1963 Johannes Albers * 1963–1977 Hans Katzer * 1977–1987 Norbert Blüm * 1987–1993 Ulf Fink * 1993 Werner Schreiber * 1994–2001 Rainer Eppelmann * 2001–2004 Hermann-Josef Arentz * 2004–2005 Gerald Weiß * Since 2005, Karl-Josef Laumann


References

{{Authority control Christian Democratic Union of Germany