Konrad Ilg (25 January 1877 – 12 August 1954) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

trade unionist and politician.

History

Born in

Ermatingen Ermatingen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen (district), Kreuzlingen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. History The Stone Age Westerfeld and Büge shoreline settlements w ...

, Ilg completed an apprenticeship as a locksmith. He started his journeyman years in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, where he joined the Zürich Locksmiths' Union, then in 1903 moved to Lausanne, becoming president of its local locksmiths' union in 1905, and successfully promoting the merger of the local metalworkers' unions into the Workers' Union, becoming its president in 1908. In this role, he led a major strike of construction workers. In 1909, Ilg was elected as central secretary of the Swiss Metalworkers' Union in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. He championed its merger into the Swiss Metalworkers' and Watchmakers' Union in 1915, becoming its central president for

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 ...

, then in 1917 the union's central president. Now one of the leading figures in the Swiss workers' movement, he attended the founding congress of the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

in 1919, becoming a board member in 1927, and then in 1937 became its vice-president for Switzerland. In 1921, Ilg was appointed as secretary of the

International Metalworkers' Federation The International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) was a global union federation of metalworkers' trade unions, founded in Zürich, Switzerland in August 1893. the IMF had more than 200 member organisations in 100 countries, representing a combine ...

(IMF), serving until his death, in 1954.

Politics

Influenced by

Pierre Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, ; ; 1809 – 19 January 1865) was a French anarchist, socialist, philosopher, and economist who founded mutualist philosophy and is considered by many to be the "father of anarchism". He was the first person to ca ...

Charles Fourier François Marie Charles Fourier (; ; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker, and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of his views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have be ...

and

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; ), was a French socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became a social democrat and one of the first possibi ...

, Ilg was active in the

Grütli Union The Grütli Union (; ) was a political party in Switzerland. History The Union was established in Geneva on 20 May 1838 by Johannes Niederer, and was initially a discussion club for tradespeople. The name was taken from Rütli, an important locat ...

in his youth, then about 1900 joined the

Social Democratic Party of Switzerland The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (, SP; ), also called the Swiss Socialist Party (; , PS), is a List of political parties in Switzerland, political party in Switzerland. The SP has had two representatives on the Federal Council (Switzerl ...

. This approach inspired him to minimise the use of strikes, and exclude communists from the union. He was elected to Bern City Council in 1910, and served on the

Grand Council of Bern The Grand Council (, ) is the parliament of the Swiss canton of Bern. It consists of 160 members (as of 2006) elected by proportional representation for a four-year term of office. The French-speaking part of the canton, the Bernese Jura (distric ...

from 1918 until 1946, and the National Council in 1918/19 and 1922 to 1947. In 1937, he signed a major peace agreement with the employers' association.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilg, Konrad 1877 births 1954 deaths Members of the National Council (Switzerland) People from Kreuzlingen District Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Swiss trade unionists