The Universal Alliance of Diamond Workers (UADW) was a small global union federation bringing together workers in the diamond industry that was founded in 1905. The Alliance focused on improving working conditions, reducing working hours, establishing clearer wages and — above all, to ensure better working conditions — limiting the number of apprentices in the trade. Other objectives of the federation were to provide information on industrial and social conditions relevant to its members and to conduct its own research.
Background Since 1889, diamond workers’ associations had maintained contact with one another through a series of international congresses (1889, 1890, 1894, 1895, 1897). Initially, participating associations were too weak to do anything significant, until strong modern trade unions were established in the main diamond processing centres, Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Antwerp in Belgium: the General Diamond Workers' Union of the Netherlands (Dutch: Algemene Nederlandse Diamantbewerkers Bond; ANDB) in 1894, and, supported by the ANDB, the Antwerp Diamond Workers' Association (Dutch: Antwerpse Diamantbewerkersbond; ADB) in 1895. These two unions were the driving forces behind international cooperation. At the 5th International Congress, held on 10 November 1903 at the Bourse du Travail in Paris, France, delegates resolved to establish a permanent international trade union, uniting workers’ organisations from the major diamond industry centres of the period. Simultaneously, and in direct connection with this initiative, deliberations took place on organizing collective action to secure a nine-hour working day and on imposing a five-year moratorium on the admission of apprentices to the trade.
The objective was to defend shared interests across all centres of the industry and to harmonise working conditions as far as possible, thereby denying employers the argument of foreign competition. In early 1904, employers' refusal to concede a reduction in working hours and the forced admission of new apprentices led to a strike in Antwerp, accompanied by a lock-out in Amsterdam by diamond traders and factory owners over the admission of additional apprentices. The prolonged four-months-long conflict ended with the introduction of the 9-hour workday and an agreement on admitting a limited number of apprentices.
Foundation The conflict underscored the necessity of international cooperation and solidarity. The Universal Alliance of Diamond Workers was formally founded on 23 May 1905 during the 6th International Congress of diamond workers, once again held in Paris, making diamond workers the first in the world to establish a modern international trade union with its own administration and finances. This organisation sought to counter the collective power of jewellers and rough-diamond traders who controlled the prices of raw materials. The constituent unions were the Dutch ANDB (the largest with 7,500 members) and the Belgian ADB (3,400 members) and several smaller confessional Dutch unions: Betsalel (orthodox-jewish; 205 members), Patrimonium (protestant; 70 members) and St. Eduardus (catholic; 205 members). From France and Switzerland, there were the Chambres Syndicales des Ouvriers Diamantaires in Saint-Claude, Paris, Felletin, Nemours, Geneva and various localities in the Pays de Gex (Thoiry, Divonne, Gex) and from the United States, the Diamond Workers' Protective Union of America (with 315 members) and the separate union of the highly skilled diamond cutters, the United Diamond Cutter's Union (UDCU; 34 members), both from New York and formed by emigrant diamond workers from Antwerp and Amsterdam. In total there were 12,410 members, more than three quarters of those working in the industry. German unions joined in 1907 (440 members in 1913), as did a small London union, the London Diamond Workers' Trade Union.
Rise and decline Over the years, the Alliance won major advances, including a week of unpaid vacation in 1910 and the eight-hour workday in 1911 across the diamond industries of the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Unions supported one another by sharing information and assisting members during strikes, lock-outs, and unemployment. In its early years, the Alliance grew, representing 22,700 workers by 1913. From the start, the UADW was shaped primarily by the dominant Dutch and Belgian unions. During the 1920s, rivalry between these two groups eroded internal cohesion, reflecting competition between their diamond industries. Whereas Amsterdam’s workforce stagnated, Belgium experienced rapid growth. This imbalance contributed to a growing disillusionment at congresses, where delegates became increasingly aware that the UADW’s project remained only partially fulfilled.
After the 1929 Great Depression, the influence of the Alliance gradually declined. In 1940, on the eve of the Second World War, the UADW president – the Dutchman Henri Polak, who had held the position since the founding – had to acknowledge that the UADW was at death's door. Switzerland and Great Britain were lost, because the industry in those countries withered and ultimately disappeared. The union in New York was only a member in name; for several years it had shown no sign of life and failed to fulfil any of its obligations. In Germany, the Nazis had destroyed all trade unions in 1933, including that of the diamond workers. The Alliance therefore consisted only of the unions in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. The economic crisis paralysed its activities. No congresses were held any longer. Influencing wages, working conditions, apprenticeship systems, and the like was impossible. Widespread unemployment stood in the way of everything.
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