The Christian National Union Confederation (, CNG; ) was a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

federation bringing together Christian democratic trade unions in Switzerland.

History

The federation was founded in 1907, as the Christian Social Union Federation of Switzerland, with about 4,500 members. After almost collapsing, it began co-operating with the

Swiss Trade Union Federation The Swiss Trade Union Federation (, SGB; ; , USS) is the largest national trade union center in Switzerland. History The federation was founded in 1880. The SGB has close ties with the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SPS). Ruth Dreifuss ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, but withdrew this in 1918 due to it opposition to the possibility of a

general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

. It spread into

Romandy Romandy ( or ; Arpitan: ''Romandia'')Before World War I, the term French Switzerland () waalso used ( or , , ) is the French-speaking historical and cultural region of Switzerland. In 2020, about 2 million people, or 22.8% of the Swiss pop ...

from 1916, and

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

from 1918. In 1921, it renamed itself as the CNG, and grew steadily, reaching 36,000 members by 1941, 84,000 in 1961, and peaking at 116,000 in 1990. While the federation was open to all Christians, the vast majority of members were Catholics, with some Protestants instead forming the Swiss Association of Protestant Workers. During the 1990s, the federation's affiliates rapidly lost members, and by 1997, it was down to 93,100. In 2002, it merged with the

Confederation of Swiss Employees' Associations The Confederation of Swiss Employees' Associations (, VSA; ) was a national trade union federation bringing together unions representing non-manual workers in Switzerland. History The federation was established in 1918 by most of the country's trad ...

, to form

Travail.Suisse Travail.Suisse is a trade union federation in Switzerland. History The federation was formed in December 2002 by the merger of the Christian National Union Confederation (CNG) and the Confederation of Swiss Employees' Associations (VSA). Through ...

Affiliates

References

{{Authority control Christian trade unions Trade unions in Switzerland Trade unions established in 1907 Trade unions disestablished in 2002