De Pijp in Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands — Northwestern Europe

Talma

Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, May 27, 2023

1. Talma Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

Aritius Sybrandus (Syb) Talma (1864-1916)

Predikant, vakbondsman en politicus die aan de basis stond van betere oudedagvoorzieningen. De sociaal bewogen Syb Talma trok zich het lot van mensen in armoede erg aan. Hij werd lid van de Anti-Revolutionaire Partij (ARP), waarin hij zijn geloof en sociale streven kon verenigen. Als vakbondsman pleitte hij voor het recht op staking, al werd dat door velen op bijbelse gronden afgewezen. Ook bereidde hij de weg voor oprichting van het CNV, het Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond. Als minister van Landbouw (1908-1913), waaronder ook sociale zaken viel, legde hij de grondslag voor ons huidige sociale verzekeringsstelsel. Het door hem ingestelde ouderdomspensioen van 2 gulden per week voor arbeiders van zeventig en ouder gaf hem de bijnaam de rode dominee. Enkele jaren later, na zijn vroege dood, ging de leeftijd naar 65 jaar en werd het bedrag een gulden hoger. De Algemene Ouderdomswet (AOW), die in 1957 is ingesteld, is grotendeels aan Talma te danken.

(English translation:)

Pastor, trade unionist and politician who laid

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the foundations for improved old-age provisions. The socially committed Syb Talma took the fate of people in poverty very seriously. He became a member of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP), in which he was able to unite his faith and social aspirations. As a trade unionist, he advocated the right to strike, although many rejected this on biblical grounds. He also paved the way for the establishment of the CNV, the Christian National Trade Union. As Minister of Agriculture (1908-1913), which also included social affairs, he laid the foundations for our current social insurance system. The old-age pension of 2 guilders a week for workers aged seventy and older, which he introduced, earned him the nickname 'the red minister'. A few years later, after his early death, the age was changed to 65 and the amount increased by one guilder. The General Old Age Pensions Act (AOW), which was introduced in 1957, is largely due to Talma.

Erected 2023 by Geef Straten Een Gezicht.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Charity & Public Work • Government & Politics • Labor Unions. In addition, it is included in the Give Streets a Face / Geef Straten Een Gezicht series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1957.

Location. 52° 21.05′ N, 4° 54.141′

Talma Marker - wide view image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, May 17, 3023

2. Talma Marker - wide view

E. Marker is in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland (North Holland). It is in De Pijp. Marker is at the intersection of Talmastraat and Mauvestraat, on the left when traveling west on Talmastraat. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: Mauvestraat 16HS, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland 1073 JV, Netherlands. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Coöperatiehof (Cooperation court) (about 180 meters away, measured in a direct line); Henriette Ronner (about 180 meters away); Verzet / Resistance: February 19, 1941 (about 210 meters away); Badhuis Diamantbuurt (Public Baths) (approx. 0.3 kilometers away); Burgemeester Tellegen / Mayor Tellegen (approx. 0.3 kilometers away); Lutma (approx. 0.3 kilometers away); Thérèse Schwartze (approx. 0.4 kilometers away); Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (approx. 0.4 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Amsterdam.

Also see . . . Syb Talma (Wikipedia, in Dutch).

Underlying basis and the result (in translation): The hard-fought parliamentary agreement on the Talma insurance laws (1913) ensured that compulsory collective social insurance became the foundation of the Dutch social system. The basis of this system is a (Christian-social) ethical principle: shared social responsibility of employers, employees and the government. The translation of this principle into a coherent system of social legislation and
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regulations plus an implementing organization in which employers and employees participate equally is Talma's most important legacy for democratically-based social security in the Netherlands. The first collective pension scheme in 1913 - initially for blue-collar workers, expanded to other lower income groups in 1919 - stimulated new social entrepreneurship in the 1920s: the establishment of retirement homes on a non-profit basis, whereby the legal guarantee of old-age annuity could be guaranteed by the bank for private investments in housing and nursing. The certainty of an old-age annuity for lower incomes also later stimulated the creation of the mixed pension system in the Netherlands: [Collective labor agreement|CAO] agreements between trade unions and employers about occupational pensions were created in addition to a fairly minimal old-age benefit from the state. For the first time in history, nationally compulsory pension insurance and the government guarantee of an old-age benefit provided lower-income groups with a self-paid old-age as a dignified alternative to the humiliating trip to the poorhouse. About 10 years after Talma'pillars of Dutch society independent 'rest homes' for the elderly thanks to national pension schemes for broad population groups. They were the forerunners of contemporary care and nursing institutions with a low social threshold: the post-war welfare state and the end of the class society.

(Submitted on June 18, 2023.)

Credits. This page was last revised on December 31, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 18, 2023, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 44 times since then and 5 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 18, 2023, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.