Manfred Scharrer, "Der Aufbau einer freien Gewerkschaft in der DDR 1989/90: OTV und FDGB-Gewerkschaften im deutschen Einigungsprozess"
Publisher: De Gruyter | ISBN: 3110254328 | 2011 | PDF | 427 pages | 3.1 MB

Building up free trade unions in the GDR and the newly-formed German States was exceptionally important for the successful nonviolent process of German reunification. The commitment of unions of the Federal Republic contributed essentially to the dissolution of the FDGB, the umbrella trade union organization of the GDR. Manfred Scharrer analyzes the establishment of the A-TV, the public services, transport and communications trade union, based on 19 qualitative interviews he conducted with protagonists of the organizational development of the unions between 1991 and 1993. The extensive source part of the book contains the interviews, which are an authentic source on the topic from the point of view of directly involved persons from East and West.