General Diamond Workers' Union of the Netherlands
The General Diamond Workers' Union of the Netherlands (Dutch: Algemene Nederlandse Diamantbewerkers Bond; abbreviated ANDB) was a trade union for diamond workers in the Netherlands from 1894 to the 1920s. In 1893, the National Labor Secretariat (NAS) was founded as a national trade union center based on syndicalist principles with a weak and unpaid central board. The General Diamond Workers' Union of the Netherlands, on the other hand, followed the German model, meaning that it had a centralized structure, loyalty and strong discipline among the rank and file, paid union leaders, and high membership dues allowing for a large strike fund. The ANDB did not join the NAS because of these differences.[1] Its founding was the result of a strike in the diamond industry in 1894. Jews made up a significant portion of diamond workers; some seventy percent of its members lived in or near Jewish quarters. There had been friction between Jewish and non-Jewish diamond workers in the past. Nevertheless, this strike managed to unify workers in this industry and the ANDB encompassed both, though this would sometimes lead to conflict.
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Unlike the NAS, which also had political goals, the ANDB focused solely on improving workers' conditions. It struggled for the eight-hour day, achieving a nine-hour work day in 1905. Beyond that, the ANDB was also active in attempting to enrich its members' cultural life. It ran a library and organized cultural events.[2][3] Instead of joining the NAS, the ANDB was one of the primary founders of the Dutch Confederation of Trade Unions (NVV) in 1906.[4] Little of the industry survived after World War II, and although the union was reformed after the war, it was on a very small scale. In 1958, it merged into the General Dutch Metalworkers' Union.[5]
Footnotes
Bibliography
- Karin Hofmeester (2004). Jewish Workers and the Labour Movement: A Comparative Study of Amsterdam, London and Paris, 1870-1914. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7546-0907-0.
- Selma Leydesdorff (1994). We Lived With Dignity: The Jewish Proletariat of Amsterdam, 1900-1940. Wayne State University Press. pp. 7–. ISBN 978-0-8143-2338-0.
- van Voorden, William (1992). "The Netherlands". In Joan Campbell (ed.). European Labor Unions. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 305–322. ISBN 978-0-313-26371-2.