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Free Workers' Union

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The Free Workers' Union (German: Freie Arbeiterinnen- und Arbeiter-Union;[1] abbreviated FAU) is an anarcho-syndicalist labor union initiative in Germany. It is the German section of the International Workers Association (IWA), to which the larger and better known Confederación Nacional del Trabajo in Spain also belongs. Because of their membership in the IWA the name is also often abbreviated as FAU-IAA or FAU/IAA.[2]

The FAU sees itself in the tradition of the Free Workers' Union of Germany (German: Freie Arbeiter Union Deutschlands; FAUD), the largest anarcho-syndicalist union in Germany until it disbanded in 1933 in order to avoid repression by the National Socialist regime, which had just attained power, and to reorganize resistance against it in illegality. The FAU was then founded in 1977 and has grown consistently all through the 1990s. Now, the FAU consists of just under 40 groups, organized locally and by branch of trade. Because it rejects hierarchical organizations and political representation and believes in the concept of federation, most of the decisions are made by the individual groups. The federal organization exists in order to coordinate campaigns and actions and for communication purposes. There are 250 to 300 members organized in the various groups.

The FAU publishes the bimonthly anarcho-syndicalist newspaper Direkte Aktion (Direct Action) as well as pamphlets to current and historical topics.

Because it supports the classical anarchist concept, the FAU is observed by the Verfassungsschutz.

Strike Bikes[edit]

After Lone Star Funds announced it would close a bicycle factory in Nordhausen, Thuringia it had acquired, its workers to decided to occupy the factory in July 2007. From October 22 through 26, the workers continued the bicycle production. With the help of the FAU, over 1,800 of these red bicycles were sold under the label "Strike Bike". The occupation of the factory ended after the company's liquidator forced the workers out.[3]

Further reading[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ↑ Arbeiterinnen is the female version of the male Arbeiter, both mean workers in English
  2. ↑ The International Workers Association is called Internationale ArbeiterInnen-Assoziation in German, hence the abbreviation IAA
  3. ↑ (German)Kazim, Haznain: Bestellboom gibt Fahrrad-Werkern neue Hoffnung. Spiegel online. Retrieved February 7, 2008; (German) Fabrikbesetzer weichen dem Insolvenzverwalter. Spiegel online. Retrieved February 7, 2008; Greiner, Peter-Stefan: Das Letzte. Neue Nordhäuser Zeitung online. Retrieved February 7, 2008.

External links[edit]

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