The Union of Commerce, Transport and Food (, VHTL; ) 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 workers in various industries, particularly food processing, retail, hospitality and goods transport. The union was founded in 1915, when the Union of Food and Beverage Workers merged with the Union of Trade and Transport Workers. It affiliated to the

Swiss Trade Union Federation The Swiss Trade Union Federation (, SGB; ; , USS) is the largest national trade union center in Switzerland. History The federation was founded in 1880. The SGB has close ties with the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SPS). Ruth Dreifuss ...

, and grew from 5,452 members to 19,492 in 1920. Its membership fluctuated rapidly over the next few decades, peaking at 41,247 in 1947. It signed an increasing number of

collective agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with a ...

s. In 1982, it renamed itself as the Union of Sales, Trade, Transport and Food, while retaining its VHTL abbreviation. By 1998, the union's membership was down to 19,093, with 39% working in commerce, 33% in food processing, 19% in transport, 3% in hospitality, and the remainder across several minor sectors. On 16 October 2004, it merged with the Swiss Metalworkers' and Watchmakers' Union and the

Union of Construction and Industry The Union of Construction and Industry (, GBI; ) was a trade union representing workers in various industries in Switzerland. The union was founded on 1 January 1993, when the Union of Construction and Wood merged with the Union of Textiles, Chemic ...

, to form

Unia ''Unia'' (), released on 25 May 2007, is the fifth full-length studio album by the power metal band Sonata Arctica, following the album '' Reckoning Night''. The first single from the album was " Paid in Full", released on 27 April 2007. This is ...

Presidents

:1915:

Jean Schifferstein Jean Schifferstein (28 June 1878 – 19 May 1941) was a Swiss and international trade union leader of German origin. Born in Bingen am Rhein, Schifferstein completed an apprenticeship as a cooper. As a journeyman, he worked in Bern and in Rh ...

{{cite web , title=Gewerkschaft Verkauf Handel Transport Lebensmittel (VHTL), Fédération du commerce, des transports et de l'alimentation (FCTA) , url=https://www.findmittel.ch/archive/archNeu/ArVHTL.html , website=Schweizerisches Sozialarchiv , access-date=9 December 2020 :1941:

Hermann Leuenberger Hermann Leuenberger (15 July 1901 – 30 December 1975) was a Swiss people, Swiss trade union leader and politician. Born in Basel, Leuenberger started an apprenticeship as a painter, but became active in the Social Democratic Party of Switzerl ...

:1966: Erich Gygax :1975: Peter W. Küng :1995: Rita Gassmann :1997: Beatrice Alder :1999: Martin Meyer and Claude Vaucher

References

Food processing trade unions Retail trade unions Transportation trade unions Trade unions established in 1915 Trade unions disestablished in 2004 Trade unions in Switzerland