 From 1878 to 1890 , the Anti @-@ Socialist Laws forbade all socialist trade unions . Only small local organizations , which communicated via intermediaries such as stewards , who worked illegally or semi @-@ legally , survived . This form of organization was easier to protect against state repression . After the laws were sunset in 1890 , the General Commission of the Trade Unions of Germany was founded on November 17 at a conference in Berlin to centralize the socialist labor movement . In 1892 , the Trade Union Congress of Halberstadt was held to organize the many local unions under the committee . The localists , 31 @,@ 000 of whom were represented at the congress , wanted to retain many of the changes that had been adopted during the repressive period . For example , they opposed separate organizations for political and economic matters , such as the party and the trade union . They especially wanted to keep their grassroots democratic structures . They also advocated local trade unions being networked by delegates rather than ruled centrally , and were wary of bureaucratic structures . The localists ' proposals were rejected at the Halberstadt congress , so they refused to join the centralized trade unions , which became known as the Free Trade Unions . They did not renounce social democracy , but rather considered themselves to be an avant @-@ garde within the social democratic movement in Germany . 
