The German Salaried Employees' Union, in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

''Deutsche Angestellten-Gewerkschaft'' (DAG) was an independent

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 ...

based in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. It did not belong to the

German Confederation of Trade Unions The German Trade Union Confederation (; DGB) is an umbrella organisation (sometimes known as a national trade union center) for eight German trade unions, in total representing more than 6 million people (31 December 2011). It was founded ...

until it became part of

ver.di (''Verdi'' (stylized as ''ver.di''; �vɛʁdiː; English: ''United Services Trade Union'') is a German trade union based in Berlin, Germany. It was established on 19 March 2001 as the result of a merger of five individual unions and is a m ...

, the united trade union for the services industry, in 2001.

History

The DAG was founded in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

-Bad Cannstatt in April 1949 when the employees' associations in the three western zones of Germany joined. The first employees' union associations were registered in the middle of the 19th century. In the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

, up to one hundred different employees' associations joined up to form three main employees' federations: the

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

AfA Federation ('' AfA-Bund''), the liberal Union of Employees (''Gewerkschaftsbund der Angestellten'') and the Nationalist Christian Grand Association of German Employees' Unions (''Gesamtverband der deutschen Angestelltengewerkschaften''). The DAG considered itself as a successor to the employees' federations which existed until they were broken up by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

in 1933. The DAG established itself as a career-oriented employees' union independent of any political party. It did not belong to the German Confederation of Trade Unions and was a leading independent political organisation which influenced the ''

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

'' and the

Cabinet of Germany The Federal Government (, ; abbr. BReg) is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany and exercises executive power at the federal level. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and the Federal Ministers. The fundamentals o ...

in the interests of its members. One effect it had in the 1950s was to restore choice to the individual as concerned

social insurance Social insurance is a form of Social protection, social welfare that provides insurance against economic risks. The insurance may be provided publicly or through the subsidizing of private insurance. In contrast to other forms of Welfare spend ...

and to ensure that nearly all German employees had social insurance. In the decades that followed, the DAG had a lasting effect on the wage system for employees and influenced their qualifications. It ran training centres, making it one of the largest providers of employee training in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. Its functions were strictly divided into official and voluntary ones following a decision at the national congress in 1957. In 1998, the DAG had 485,225 members, with about 55% being women. In 2001 the DAG merged with four unions of the German Confederation of Trade Unions ( DPG, HBV, ÖTV, IG Medien) becoming the

, the united trade union for the services industry. At the time of the integration the union had about 2.9 million members.

Presidents

:1949: Fritz Rettig :1959: Georg Schneider (acting) :1960: Rolf Spaethen :1967: Hermann Brandt :1987: Roland Issen

References

{{Authority control Defunct trade unions of Germany Trade unions established in 1949 Organisations based in Hamburg 1949 establishments in West Germany 2001 disestablishments in Germany Trade unions disestablished in 2001