13 - HICOG and the Unions in West Germany: A Study of HICOG’s Labor Policy toward the Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, 1949–1952

Summary

In a speech before the delegates to the founding congress of the German Trade Union Federation (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB) in October 1949, Harvey W. Brown, prominent American Federation of Labor (AFL) leader and newly named director of the Office of Labor Affairs of the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany (HICOG), attributed to the unions a twofold responsibility in securing democracy in Germany. A democratic way of life, he stated, depended above all on how successful the unions proved to be in their struggle for social justice. At the same time, he reminded his audience that the chance for democratic growth hinged greatly upon the means employed by union leaders in pursuit of their goals.

This chapter explains how HICOG sought to ensure that organized labor in Germany, represented by the DGB, would live up to the standards set by Brown. The discussion is limited to the period from the middle of 1949 to early 1952. Overall, this was a decisive time for the formation of the Federal Republic, during which crucial decisions were made affecting labor's programmatic visions of the future. It was during this period, too, that HICOG exerted considerable effort to impress upon organized labor in Germany just what Americans regarded to be the role of trade unions in a democratic society.