International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees

International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees
Fédération internationale des employés, techniciens et cadres
PredecessorInternational Commercial Employees' Secretariat
Merged intoUnion Network International
Founded10 August 1921
Dissolved31 December 1999
HeadquartersGeneva, Switzerland
Members
11 million (1994)[1]
PublicationFIET Info
AffiliationsICFTU
Websitefiet.org

The International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees (FIET; French: Fédération internationale des employés, techniciens et cadres) was a global union federation bringing together workers representing clerical workers. The union was sometimes known as the International Federation of Employees, Technicians and Managers, or informally as the International Federation of White Collar Workers' Unions.

History[edit]

The first attempt to create an international federation of clerical workers was the International Commercial Employees' Secretariat, founded in Hamburg in 1909, and led by Edo Fimmen. It collapsed at the start of World War I. FIET was founded in 1921, in Vienna, as its replacement.[1][2]

Initially representing only European unions, after World War II the federation began admitting unions from around the world. The large majority of workers represented worked in banking, insurance, or as clerical staff in commerce and social services. In 1984, the International Secretariat of Entertainment Trade Unions became an autonomous section of the FIET.[1]

By 1994, membership of FIET had reached 11 million.[1] At the end of 1999, it merged with the Communications International, the International Graphical Federation, and the Media and Entertainment International, to form Union Network International.[3]

Leadership[edit]

General Secretaries[edit]

1904: Max Josephson[4]
1910: Edo Fimmen[4]
1921: Gerrit Smit[4]
1934: Willem Spiekman[4]
1958: Erich Kissel
1973: Heribert Maier
1989: Philip Jennings

Presidents[edit]

1921: Otto Urban
1933: Joseph Hallsworth
1947: Oreste Capocci
1949: James Young
1955: Friedrich Hillegeist
1960: Algot Jonsson
1962: Joe Hiscock
1964: James Suffridge
1970: Alfred Allen
1976: Günter Stephan
1983: Tom Whaley
1987: Bengt Lloyd
1991: Jochen Richert
1994: Gary Nebeker
1999: Maj-Len Remahl

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Docherty, James C.; van der Velden, Sjaak (2012). Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor. Scarecrow Press. pp. 101, 180. ISBN 0810879883.
  2. ^ "Fédération internationale des employés, techniciens et cadres (FIET)". Open Yearbook. UIA. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  3. ^ "FAQs". UNI Global Union. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Yearbook of the International Free Trade Union Movement. London: Lincolns-Prager. 1957–1958. p. 514.
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