The Free German Trade Union Federation, in German Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (FDGB), was the trade union federation in East Germany. It was part of the National Front and had representatives in the Volkskammer.
On paper the FDGB, a member of the World Federation of Trade Unions, was actually the umbrella organization for about 15 individual trade unions (e.g. IG Metall, IG Transport etc.), but in reality most members did not even realise that was the case. Only a handwritten note on the last page of the standard red membership booklet mentioned the individual trade union they belonged to.
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The bureaucratic union apparatus was a basic component and tool of the SED’s power structure, constructed on the same strictly centralist hierarchical model as all other major GDR organizations.
The smallest unit was a "Kollektiv", which nearly all workers in any organisation belonged to, including state leaders and party functionaries. They recommended trustworthy people as the lowest FDGB functionaries and voted for them in open-list ballots. The higher positions ranged from "Departmental Union Leader" (Abteilungsgewerkschaftsleiter, AGL) to Leader of the "Central BGL" ( Betriebsgewerkschaftsleitung - Company Union Leadership in combines); they were normally full-time and held by SED members with a history of toeing the party line, or in some cases bloc party members. Their jobs, like those of the FDGB district leaders, were assured until they retired as long as they did not stray from party policy.
The chairman of the FDGB was Herbert Warnke until his death on March 26, 1975 when he was replaced by Harry Tisch, a member of the SED’s Politburo, who kept the post until the political turnaround in 1989.
Officially, membership in the FDGB was voluntary, but unofficially it was hardly possible to develop a career without joining . In 1986, 98% of all workers and employees were organized in the FDGB which had 9.6 million members. This meant that it was nominally one of the world’s largest trade unions. As well as improving members’ career chances, the FDGB also offered various "concessions".
In the East German system, the FDGB was in charge of ideological control and conformity in companies, as well as social tasks such as hospital visits, presenting awards, giving gifts on special anniversaries, even extending as far as organizing health spas and the hard-to-get holiday bookings. The FDGB’s own holiday service was responsible for the latter.
The single trade union was also very important as a source of new blood for the military. Using small benefits as an incentive, and if necessary gentle pressure, large numbers of workers and employees were recruited to what were known as "Combat Groups of the Working Class".
In May 1990, shortly before German reunification, the FDGB was dissolved. Many former members did not join the West German (now German) unions as their previous experience had led them to associate unions with state nannying, especially as old GDR functionaries had managed to get new positions there. Moreover, because of the lightning privatization of the GDR many had simply lost their jobs.