The Union of Academic Research (, Gew. W) was a trade union representing university and college staff and those in related jobs in East Germany. The union was founded by the Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB) in 1953, following requests from several universities for a dedicated union. It initially had 41,000 members. In 1961, the Union of Healthcare was founded, but the university medicine section of the union successfully argued against transferring to the new organisation. In 1977, workers in archives, independent research institutions, and the Foreign Languages Service were moved to other unions. Internationally, the union affiliated to the World Federation of Scientific Workers. The union became involved in sports associations, their names starting with "SV Wissenschaft". By 1989, the union had grown to have 184,222 members. It became independent in January 1990. In negotiations with West German unions, it argued that all research workers should remain organised in one union. This position was not accepted, so when in October the union dissolved, its members could choose to join either the Education and Science Workers' Union or the Public Services, Transport and Traffic Union. Presidents 1953: Günther Rienäcker 1959: Alfred Wende 1963: Günter Ehmke 1968: Gerhard Junghähnel 1972: Horst Sander 1982: Rolf Rinke 1990: Günter Eiselt References Trade unions established in 1953 Trade unions disestablished in 1990 Trade unions in East Germany