Weg mit den Baracken

In the beginning, they were given barracks to live in. As close as possible to the building sites and factories. Changing jobs was forbidden. Countless small getthos throughout the country. Mistrust and hostility on the part of the population. The migrant workers fought a long battle to change these living conditions.

Together with the trade unions. But first these had to change themselves, overcoming hostility towards foreigners and corporate reflexes within their own ranks. In short, the immigrants and their Swiss colleagues had to start tearing down the mental barracks within the labor movement. This is the story of half a century of political and social struggles. Sometimes they were fought out in front of the whole world, sometimes shielded in the section meetings. Its most important protagonists are the trade union cadres who emerged from immigration after 1945. Who are they? Where did they come from? How did they experience their status as guest workers? How did they assert themselves?