In September 1896, gas workers in Berlin went on strike in opposition to having to work for 18 hours on Sundays.

This was officially established on 4 October, under the name the Union of Gas, Wood, Coal, and Other Workers, and by the end of the year, it had launched a journal.

It also argued for wages linked to seniority and the number of children each employee had, and for the unions to be politically neutral.

[1] He was replaced by Albin Mohs, who proved more malleable, and accepted frequent demands for specialist public sector workers to be represented by industrial unions.

He had been general secretary of the International Secretariat of the Workers in Public Services since 1907, and from 1914 was paid for the role, allowing Heckmann to replace him as leader of the German union.