Mathias Hinterscheid (26 January 1931 – 27 December 2016) was a

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

trade unionist. Born in

Dudelange Dudelange (; ; ) is a commune with town status in southern Luxembourg. It is the fourth-most populous commune, with 22,043 inhabitants. Dudelange is situated close to the border with France. The commune also includes the smaller town of Bude ...

, Hinterscheid attended the Athanaeum in Luxembourg City. He became a steelworker at Arbed and joined the

Luxembourg Workers' Union The Luxembourg Workers' Union (, LAV) was a general union in Luxembourg. The union was founded in 1920, as the Luxembourg Mining and Metalworkers' Union. This was a merger of the Luxembourg Miners' and Ironworkers' Union with the Luxembourg Metalw ...

(LAV) in 1946. In 1947, he joined the

Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party The Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (, , ), abbreviated to LSAP or POSL, is a social democratic, pro-European political party in Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Eu ...

. He began working full-time for the LAV, with responsibility for youth, in 1958. In 1963, Hinterscheid became the general secretary of the

General Confederation of Labour of Luxembourg The General Confederation of Labour of Luxembourg (, CGT-L) is a trade union federation in Luxembourg. The federation was established in 1927, on the initiative of unions representing railway and metal workers in Luxembourg. By the 1970s, its larg ...

(CGT-L), to which the LAV was affiliated. In 1970, he moved to become president of both organisations. In 1976, Hinterscheid was elected as the general secretary of the

European Trade Union Confederation The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is the major trade union organisation representing workers at the European level. In its role as a European social partner, the ETUC works both in a consulting role with the European Commission and ...

(ETUC). During his time in office, the ETUC attracted many new affiliates and became the main focus for engagement between trade unions, the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

, and other European institutions. He retired in 1991, and became an advisor to

Jacques Delors Jacques Lucien Jean Delors (; 20 July 192527 December 2023) was a French politician who served as the eighth president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. Delors played a key role in the creation of the single market, the euro and th ...

. From 1998 until 2008, Hinterscheid served on the board of directors of the

Central Bank of Luxembourg The Central Bank of Luxembourg ( , BCL; ; ) is the national central bank for Luxembourg within the Eurosystem. It was founded for that purpose in 1998, and also succeeded the Institut Monétaire Luxembourgeois in some of the latter's mandates ...

. He died late in 2016, shortly after being honored for 70 years in the trade union movement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinterscheid, Mathias 1931 births 2016 deaths Luxembourgian trade unionists People from Dudelange