View source for Union of Belgian Textile Workers

{{Short description|Trade union in Belgium}}
The '''Union of Belgian Textile Workers''' ({{langx|nl|Textielarbeiderscentrale van België}}, TACB; {{langx|fr|Centrale des Ouvriers Textiles de Belgique}}, COTB) was a [[trade union]] representing workers in the textile trades in [[Belgium]].
The union was founded in 1898 as the '''National Textile Workers' Association of Belgium''', linked to the [[Belgian Workers Party]].  In 1908, it became the '''Textile Workers Center of Belgium''', with the wool workers federation of [[Verviers]] joining.  However, after [[World War I]], the Flemish leadership decided to centralise the union, and the Verviers federation left, only rejoining in 1935.  In 1945, the union was a founding constituent of the [[General Federation of Belgian Labour]].<ref name="odis">{{cite web |title=TEXTIELARBEIDERSCENTRALE VAN BELGIË / CENTRALE DES OUVRIERS TEXTILES DE BELGIQUE (1908-1995) |url=https://www.odis.be/hercules/toonOrg.php?taalcode=nl&id=1608 |website=ODIS |accessdate=22 January 2020}}</ref>
The union's membership peaked at 79,953 in 1953, then fell steadily, in line with employment in the industry.  By 1993, it had only 28,126 members.  The following year, it union merged with the [[Union of Clothing Workers and Kindred Trades in Belgium]] and the [[General Diamond Workers' Association of Belgium]], to form the [[Textile-Clothing-Diamond Union]].<ref name="odis" /><ref name="ebbinghaus">{{cite book |last1=Ebbinghaus |first1=Bernhard |last2=Visser |first2=Jelle |title=Trade Unions in Western Europe Since 1945 |date=2000 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Basingstoke |isbn=0333771125 |page=131}}</ref>
==Presidents==
:1921: Alfons Segier
:1932:
:1954: Alfons Baeyens
:1963: Marcel Lefèvre
:1976:
:1980: Jan Monserez
:1988: Donald Wittevrongel
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Trade unions in Belgium]]
[[Category:Textile and clothing trade unions]]
[[Category:Trade unions established in 1898]]
[[Category:Trade unions disestablished in 1994]]
[[Category:1898 establishments in Belgium]]
[[Category:1994 disestablishments in Belgium]]