Heinz-Werner Meyer (24 August 1932 – 9 May 1994) 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 union leader and politician. Born in the Harburg area of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Meyer became a coal miner, while attending night school. He joined the

Union of Mining and Energy The Union of Mining and Energy (, IGBE) was a trade union in West Germany which existed from 1946 until 1997. History In the early 20th-century, there were several miners' unions in Germany, the most important being the Union of Miners of Germany. ...

(IG BE), and also 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 ...

(SPD). From 1955, he studied economics at the Academy of Economics and Politics, then in 1957 he became the IG BE's full-time youth secretary. Meyer's rise in the union continued, as in 1964 he was appointed as head of its organisation department, and in 1969 he won election to its executive. From 1975 to 1985, he also served in the

Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which convenes in the state capital of Düsseldorf, in the eastern part of the district of Düsseldorf-Hafen, Hafen ...

. In 1984 he became vice president of IG BE, and then in 1985 the president of the union. In 1987, he was elected to serve in the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

, standing down in 1990, when he was elected as president of the

German Trade Union Confederation The German Trade Union Confederation (; DGB) is an umbrella organisation (sometimes known as a national trade union center) for eight German trade unions, in total representing more than 6 million people (31 December 2011). It was founded ...

. He remained in post until his death, in 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Heinz-Werner 1932 births 1994 deaths Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia People from Harburg, Hamburg Politicians from Hamburg Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany Presidents of the German Trade Union Confederation