The International Federation of Furriers (German: Internationales Kürschner-Sekretariat) was a global union federation bringing together trade unions representing people who worked in the fur industry.
History
An international conference of furriers was held in Brussels in June 1894, and at it, several unions agreed to form the "International Federation of Furriers". It was initially based in Vienna, but moved to Hamburg in 1901, and Berlin in 1909. In 1895, the secretariat launched a journal, The Furrier, which it originally published in three languages. From 1910, the federation's general secretary was Albert Regge.
One of the smaller international trade secretariats, immediately before World War I, it had only 6,169 affiliated members. By 1921 it had affiliates in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Hungary and Sweden. At the time, the German Furriers' Union was by far the most important, contributing 12,076 of the secretariat's total 14,605 members. 8,808 of these members were women.
In January 1925, the secretariat merged into the International Clothing Workers' Federation.
Affiliates
As of 1922, the following unions were affiliated:
| Union | Country | Affiliated membership |
|---|---|---|
| Union of Fur Workers and Related Trades in Austria | Austria | 1,329 |
| Danish Hatters' and Furriers' Union | Denmark | 480 |
| German Furriers' Union | Germany | 12,445 |
| Hungary | 610 | |
| Italy | 52 | |
| Norway | 25 | |
| Swedish Hat and Fur Workers' Union | Sweden | 578 |
| International Fur & Leather Workers Union | United States | 8,760 |
References
- Heymann, C. (1914). Die internationalen beziehungen der deutschen atbeitgeber-, angestellten- und arbeiterverbände. Statistisches Reichsamt. Abteilung für Arbeiterstatistik. p. 117.
- ^ The Labour Year Book. 1924. p. 369.
- De Leon, Solon; Hayssen, Irma; Poole, Grace (1925). The American Labor Who's Who. Hanford Press. p. 316.
- Rowan, Richard; Northrup, Herbert; O'Brien, Rae (1980). Multinational Union Organizations in the Manufacturing Industries. University of Pennsylvania. p. 143. ISBN 0895460211.
- The American Labor Yearbook. New York: Rand School of Social Science. 1924. p. 262.