Erwin Ferlemann (16 March 1930 – 24 September 2000) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

trade unionist. Born in

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

, Ferlemann's father was interned by the Nazi government for several years in the 1930s. Ferlemann attended school during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, then completed two apprenticeships: one as an export clerk, and one as a

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...

. He joined the Printing and Paper Union (IG Druck), and became more active in it after moving to

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. He also joined the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

. In 1969, Ferlemann wrote the book ''Druckindustrie und Elektronik''. That year, he began working full time for IG Druck, as head of its economics and technology department. He was elected as vice president of the union in 1976, then as president in 1983. He was also elected president of the

International Graphical Federation The International Graphical Federation (IGF) was a global union federation bringing together unions of printing workers around the world. History Moved to establish the federation began in 1939, when the Lithographers' International, Internati ...

. As leader of IG Druck, Ferlemann courted controversy for describing East German writers who had defected to West German as a "

fifth column A fifth column is a group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine. Forces gathered in secret can mobilize ...

". In 1989, he took IG Druck into a merger with the small Arts Union, forming the

Media Union The Media Union () was a trade union representing German workers in the printing, paper, journalism and The arts, arts. The union was founded on 15 April 1989 at a meeting in Hamburg, with the merger of the Printing and Paper Union (Germany), Pri ...

, and he became its first president. He retired in October 1992, and died in 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferlemann, Erwin 1930 births 2000 deaths German trade union leaders People from Wuppertal