Gerrit Johan Adam Smit (8 April 1879 – 3 March 1934) was a
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
trade union leader.
Born in
Zutphen
Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some 30 km northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river Ijssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in the ...
, Smit became an accountant, then in 1903 moved to Amsterdam. He joined the National Association of Trade and Office Clerks, and became the editor of its Amsterdam journal, ''De Handels- en Kantoor Clerk''. The union had become divided between supporters of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and those who favoured remaining politically neutral. Smit initially favoured neutrality, but became involved in organising an international conference of clerical workers, and rapidly moved toward social democracy.
In 1905, Smit stood to become president of the union, but was defeated, in part because members felt he was too sympathetic to the SDAP. This experience led him to support a split, the
General Dutch Union of Trade and Office Workers
The General Dutch Union of Trade and Office Workers ( nl, Algemeene Nederlandsche Bond van Handels- en Kantoorbedienden, ANBHK) was a trade union representing white collar workers in the Netherlands.
The union was founded on 22 October 1905 as a s ...
(ANBHK), which affiliated to the social democratic
Dutch Confederation of Trade Unions
The Dutch Confederation of Trade Unions ( nl, Nederlands Verbond van Vakverenigingen, NVV) was a Dutch social-democratic trade union.
History
The NVV was founded in 1906 as a merger of fifteen smaller unions, as a result of the inability of the ...
(NVV). However, due to his senior position in a municipal gas works, Smit was not initially eligible for membership of the split, and instead joined the Association of Municipal Officials, becoming its secretary and editor of its journal. He quit in 1906, was re-elected in 1908, but in 1909 moved to work for
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...
in
Eindhoven
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,
Smit struggled to work with union secretary
Edo Fimmen
Eduard Carl Fimmen (18 June 1881, Nieuwer-Amstel – 14 December 1942, Cuernavaca), also known as Edo Fimmen, was a Dutch people, Dutch trade unionist.
Early life
Fimmen was born in Nieuwer-Amstel on 18 June 1881. His father was a merchant, Eduar ...
, who he felt was disorganised. In 1916, he succeeded Fimmen as secretary and also as editor of the union's journal, ''Onze Strijd''. In 1920, he was elected as secretary of the re-established