International Union of Hotel, Restaurant and Bar Workers


The International Union of Hotel, Restaurant and Bar Workers 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:
UnionCountryAffiliated membership
Central Swiss Federation of Hotel and Restaurant EmployeesSwitzerland11,468
Danish Hotel and Restaurant Personnel's UnionDenmark1,500
Food, Stimulants, Hotel and Restaurant Workers' UnionWest Germany23,495
Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International UnionUnited States438,061
Hotel and Restaurant Workers' UnionAustria13,508
Hotel and Restaurant Workers' UnionFinland4,493
Hotel, Cafe and Restaurant Employees' UnionNetherlands5,980
Italian Union of Hotel and Restaurant WorkersItalyUnknown
Norwegian Union of Hotel and Restaurant WorkersNorway7,695
Skilled Cooks' UnionDenmark2,544
Swedish Hotel and Restaurant Workers' UnionSweden26,085
Swiss Commerce, Transport and Food Workers' UnionSwitzerland726
Union of Food and Hotel WorkersBelgium6,000
Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied WorkersUnited Kingdom5,000
Waiters' Union of DenmarkDenmark6,947

General Secretaries