Hans Mayr (trade unionist)

German trades unionist and politician

Hans Mayr

Mayr in 1983

Born| 13 December 1921

Freudenegg, Bavaria, Germany

Died| 3 August 2009

Dreieich, Hesse, Germany

Occupation(s)| Trades Union Officer
Politician
President of IG Metall (union)
Political party| SPD

Hans Mayr (13 December 1921 – 3 August 2009) was a German trades unionist and politician (SPD). Respected for his negotiating flair, he served between 1983 and 1986 as president of West Germany's IG Metall (union).[1][2][3][4]

## Life

[edit]

Hans Meyer was born in Freudenegg, a village located in western Bavaria, a short distance to the southeast of Ulm. He grew up in a "classic" Social Democratic family in which both discipline and tolerance were valued and political discussion was part of family life. His father was a metal worker and works council member who studied after the First World War and in 1946, after the Second World War, became a judge. Meyer was not quite twelve in 1933 when the Nazis took power, and he was a witness to government reprisals against his father who was not sympathetic to the unfolding Nazi dictatorship. His experiences from that time also included the support his mother received from a local Jewish business which gave her a job after her husband's arrest, enabling the family to survive.[2] Towards the end of the Second World War he was sent to the front line as a soldier, becoming briefly a prisoner of war. He escaped, and in 1946 joined IG Metall and the Social Democratic Party ("Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands" / SPD).[2]

He soon became a full-time union official, initially as a lead officer with the union branch in Göppingen. In 1962 he was elected to the union executive. From 1963 his principal responsibilities involved wages strategy. He became known as the union's best tactician.[5] In 1972 he was elected deputy vice-chair of IG Metall, and then in 1981 as vice-chair in succession to Eugen Loderer on the latter's election to presidency of the union. Hans Meyer became union president in 1983, a position from which he retired three years later on reaching retirement age.[6]

His most high-profile achievement came in the middle 1980s. The forty hour working week and the removal of Saturday morning from the standard working week had been a long-standing union aspiration since early in the twentieth century, and it had been secured in the 1960s. Twenty years later the industries in which IG Metall was present, notably the automobile manufacturing sector, had seen massive growth and, for the most part, massive profitability. However, growth faltered in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis, and during the second half of the 1970s unemployment was on a sustained upward trend. In order, it was explained, that the available work might be shared out more fairly, the union now proposed a further reduction in the working week, this time to 35 hours. A lengthy and at times confrontational negotiation followed, culminating in a six-week strike after the summer break in 1984. Mayr choreographed the campaign which by the end of that year had been successful.[7] During the next year he found himself campaigning strongly and, it was felt at the time, effectively against proposals by the centre-right Kohl government to place additional restrictions workers' right to strike.[4] His campaign against the government proposal to change Paragraph 116 of the so-called "Employment Support Law" involved a further mass-mobilisation of more than one million workers.[8][9]

In the 1960s Mayr embarked on a parallel career as a member of parliament. On 20 November 1961 he entered the regional parliament (Landtag) of Baden-Württemberg, taking the seat vacated through the resignation of Karl Riegel (who had been elected to the Bundestag (national parliament) in September 1961),[1] and representing the "Göppingen I" electoral district. Mayr remained a member of the legislature till the next set of elections, which took place in 1964.[10]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Gewerkschafter und SPD-Politiker Hans Mayr ist gestorben". Der frühere IG Metall-Vorsitzende Hans Mayr ist im Alter von 87 Jahren gestorben. Der Gewerkschafter hat seine Wurzeln in Göppingen als Bevollmächtigter der IG Metall und SPD-Landtagsabgeordneter. Neue Württembergische Zeitung & SPD, Göppingen. 7 August 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
2. ^ a b c "Hans Mayr, deutscher Gewerkschafter; SPD". Internationales Biographisches Archiv. Munzinger-Archiv GmbH, Ravensburg. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
3. ^ "In memoriam: Hans Mayr". Hans Mayr, former President of the International Metalworkers' Federation, died on August 3, 2009 aged 87. IndustriALL Global Union, Genf. 6 August 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
4. ^ a b H. Martens; W. Didzoleit (16 December 1985). ""Uns wird eine Schlinge um den Hals gelegt"". Spiegel Gespräch: IG-Metall-Chef Hans Mayr über die von Bonn geplante Änderung des Streikrechts. Der Spiegel (online). Retrieved 19 January 2018.
5. ^ Erika Martens (18 May 1984). ""Kollegen, keinen Tapezierstreik" ... "Der alte Tariffuchs der IG Metall weiß, worum es geht...."". Der Ausstand im Südwesten: Insgeheim haben alle Angst. Die Zeit (online). Retrieved 19 January 2018.
6. ^ Erika Martens (11 July 1986). "Zeit für neue Ideen". Wachwechsel bei Deutschlands größter Gewerkschaft: IG-Metall-Chef Hans Mayr tritt im Herbst ab. Die Zeit (online). Retrieved 19 January 2018.
7. ^ Hans Mayr (November 1984). "Der Kampf um die 35-Stunden-Woche - Erfahrungen und Schlußfolgerungen aus der Tarifbewegung 1984" (PDF). Gewerkschaftliche Monatshefte 11/84. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e. V. , Bonn. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
8. ^ ""Der Mist mit dem 116 hat uns noch gefehlt"". Die Auseinandersetzung um das neue Streikrecht kann „wahlentscheidend sein“, fürchtet CDU-Fraktionschef Alfred Dregger: Das Thema sorgt weiterhin für Zündstoff in den Betrieben. Noch glaubt Kanzler Helmut Kohl, der Protest werde nach der Verabschiedung des Gesetzes bald erlahmen, doch selbst Parteifreunde, Gewerkschaften, Opposition und die Basis lassen nicht locker: „Die Kumpels sind entschlossen zu kämpfen.“. Der Spiegel (online). 10 February 1986. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
9. ^ "Gefährliches Instrument". Ein neuer Streit zwischen Koalition und Gewerkschaften ist programmiert: Läuft der Schutz für die paritätische Mitbestimmung aus? Diesmal steht Arbeitsminister Blüm auf der Seite der Gewerkschaften. Der Spiegel (online). 7 July 1986. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
10. ^ "Der "Tariffuchs" ist gegangen". Dreieich - (klg) Hans Mayr, engagierter Gewerkschafter und von 1983 bis 1986 Vorsitzender der IG Metall, ist am Montag dieser Woche im Alter von 87 Jahren in Dreieich verstorben. Bürgermeister Dieter Zimmer würdigte den Verstorbenen als jemanden, der sich insbesondere für die Arbeitnehmerinnen und Arbeitnehmer eingesetzt und für soziale Gerechtigkeit gekämpft habe. Metac Medien Verlags GmbH, Offenbach. 7 August 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

Trade union offices

Preceded by

Eugen Loderer

|  Vice President of IG Metall
1972–1983  | Succeeded by

Franz Steinkühler

Preceded by

Eugen Loderer

|  President of IG Metall
1983–1986  | Succeeded by

Franz Steinkühler

Preceded by

Eugen Loderer

|  President of the International Metalworkers' Federation
1984–1987  | Succeeded by

Franz Steinkühler

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany

People|

* Deutsche Biographie
* DDB