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Germany
In Germany, the main trade union movement unites eight separate union movements with around 6 million members under the umbella of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB).
Commission on Memory Cultures of Social Democracy
Erinnerungskulturen der sozialen Demokratie (Commission on Memory Cultures of Social Democracy), in collaboration with the Hans Böckler Foundation, examined the role of social democratic values and the labour movement in the collective memory of trade unions, seeking to strengthen cultures of remembrance.
Stefan Berger on Commemorative cultures: Trade unions in the memory of democracy
Commission final report:
Libraries and Archives
The major union archives in Germany are available at the House of the History of the Ruhr and at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. In addition, there are many labour movement archives and social movement archives with different thematic focuses that can provide information about alliances of the trade unions with other social movements. These archives are summarised in the following publication:
Bernd Hüttner: Archive von unten. Bibliotheken und Archive der neuen sozialen Bewegungen und ihre Bestände, Neu-Ulm: AG SPAK Bücher 2003.
The many workers' libraries, founded mainly by workers' associations at the beginning of the 19th century, served primarily educational work. The Anti-Socialist Law ("Law against the public danger of Social Democratic endeavours" 1878-1890) hindered political education work and the expansion of workers' libraries. It was only after the end of the law that there was a new upswing. From the 1860s onwards, trade union libraries were also established in Germany, which initially focused on technical education and later also covered other fields of knowledge. Workers' and trade union libraries came to an abrupt end when their holdings were destroyed by the National Socialists, who persecuted trade unionists. Rescued materials could later be taken into municipal libraries or the newly founded trade union libraries.
Source: https://www.fes.de/bibliothek/online-galerie/zur-geschichte-der-bibliotheken-der-arbeiterbewegung
Further reading
Heinemann, Ulrich, and Manfred Wannöffel. “Soziale Demokratie: Begriff, Elemente, Entwicklung und ihre Bedeutung für die Erinnerungskultur in Zeiten tiefer gesellschaftlicher Transformationsprozesse.” In Forschung aus der Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, edited by Stefan Berger, Wolfgang Jäger, and Ulf Teichmann, 1st ed., 197:57–74. Bielefeld, Germany: transcript Verlag, 2022.