International Union of Hotel, Restaurant and Bar Workers

The International Union of Hotel, Restaurant and Bar Workers (IUHR) was a global union federation bringing together trade unions representing hospitality workers.

History In the late 19th- and early 20th-century, the Union of German Restaurant Workers was by far the strongest in Europe, and it established branches in many other countries, in cities to which German workers had migrated. In 1908, it organised a conference in Berlin which established the international union, with headquarters in the city.

The secretariat ceased operations during World War I, but was re-established in 1920 at a conference in Amsterdam. Its headquarters were in Amsterdam for four years, before returning to Berlin, then moved to The Hague around the end of the decade. After World War II, it was again re-established, on this occasion based in Stockholm.

In its early years, the IUHR was one of the smaller international trade secretariats. By 1925, it had 13 affiliates, with a total of 57,077 members, but it grew rapidly after World War II, and by 1960 its 15 affiliates had a total of 550,000 members. In 1961, it merged into the International Union of Food, Drink and Tobacco Workers' Associations, which renamed itself as the "International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations".

Affiliates In 1960, the following unions were affiliated to the IUHR:

Union Country Affiliated membership Danish Hotel and Restaurant Personnel's Union Denmark 1,500 Dutch Union of Hotel, Cafe and Restaurant Personnel Netherlands 5,980 Food, Stimulants, Hotel and Restaurant Workers' Union West Germany 23,495 Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union United States 438,061 Hotel and Restaurant Workers' Union Austria 13,508 Hotel and Restaurant Workers' Union Finland 4,493 Hotel and Restaurant Workers' Union Norway 7,695 Italian Union of Hotel and Restaurant Workers Italy Unknown Skilled Cooks' Union Denmark 2,544 Swedish Hotel and Restaurant Workers' Union Sweden 26,085 Union Helvetia Switzerland 11,468 Union of Commerce, Transport and Food Switzerland 726 Union of Food and Hotel Workers Belgium 6,000 Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers United Kingdom 5,000 Waiters' Union of Denmark Denmark 6,947

General Secretaries 1908: Albert Baumeister 1912: Hugo Poetzsch 1920: J. G. van Heusden 1924: Rudolf Ströhlinger 1933: P. F. Loncke 1937: Henry Sjöh

References