The Danish Seamen's Union was a

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 ...

representing sailors and other workers ships in the Danish merchant navy. The union was founded in 1897, and joined the

Danish Confederation of Trade Unions LO, The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions ( Danish: ''LO, Landsorganisationen i Danmark'' or simply ''LO'') was founded in 1898 and was an umbrella organisation (the largest of the three national trade union centers in Denmark) for 18 Danish ...

(LO) in 1900. However, the union was generally more radical and left-wing than the LO, and so in 1912 it left the federation. It joined 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 o ...

in 1928, and rejoined LO in 1937.{{cite book , last1=Campbell , first1=Joan , last2=Windmuller , first2=John P. , title=European Labor Unions , date=1992 , publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group , isbn=031326371X , page=95 After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the union's membership entered a long-term decline, with smaller crews and many ships using

flags of convenience Flag of convenience (FOC) refers to a business practice whereby a ship's owners register a merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ensign of that country, called the flag ...

. In 1975, the union again left the LO, following a dispute about quotas. By 1987, it had only 5,000 members, and by 1990, only 3,000. In 1994, it merged into the

Danish General Workers' Union The Danish General Workers' Union (, SID) was a general union representing mostly unskilled and semi-skilled workers, in Denmark. History The union was founded in 1897 as the Danish Workers' Union (DA), becoming the Danish Workers' and Specialist ...

References

Seafarers' trade unions Trade unions in Denmark Trade unions established in 1897 Trade unions disestablished in 1994

See also

References