Michael Sommer

German trade unionist leader (born 1952)

Michael Sommer

Born	15 January 1952 (1952-01-15) (age 72) Büderich, now part of Meerbusch, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany (now Germany)
Citizenship	German
Occupation	Politician

Michael Sommer (born 15 January 1952) is a German trade unionist leader. He served for 12 years as the chairman of the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB).

Early life and career

Born in Büderich, now part of Meerbusch, North Rhine-Westphalia, Sommer studied political sciences at Free University of Berlin from 1971 to 1980. He has been a member of the German Post Trade Union, which became part of ver.di in 2001, since 1971.

After his final degree, Sommer worked for the trade union. He climbed the ladder in the trade union becoming chairman of ver.di on 18 March 2001. A year later, on 28 May 2002, he was elected chairman of the DGB. He served for twelve years, retiring in 2014.^[1]

Other activities

Aktion Deutschland Hilft (Germany's Relief Coalition), Member of the Board of Trustees
Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), Deputy Chairman of the Board^[2]
Volkswagen, Member of the Sustainability Council (since 2016)^[3]
Volkswagen Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2009)^[4]
Schloss Neuhardenberg Foundation, chairman of the Board of Trustees^[5]
KfW, Member of the supervisory board (2003-2014)^[6]

References

^ "Abschied von Michael Sommer: Reiner Hoffmann ist neuer DGB-Chef". Der Spiegel. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
^ Organizational Structure Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES).
^ Volkswagen Group appoints international Sustainability Council Archived 2 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine Volkswagen, press release of 28 September 2016.
^ Board of Trustees Volkswagen Foundation, Hannover.
^ Board of Trustees Schloss Neuhardenberg Foundation.
^ 2003 Annual Report^{[permanent dead link]} KfW.