Place Jean Roggeman

Jean Roggeman, who was born in Juslenville on 9th April 1872 and died on 28th March 1928 in Dison, was a died-in-the-wool native of Dison. The man who was later nicknamed "the father of trade unionism in Verviers" took on the employers during a particularly difficult struggle, in 1906, during which he obtained the first long-term collective bargaining agreement in the country. This showdown pitted the Federation of Textile Employers against the Verviers Trade Union Confederation for several months. Such a confederation would not have been possible without Jean Roggeman. Indeed, it came into being with the emergence in 1900 of the newspaper Le Tisserand (the weaver) created by Jean Roggeman. The newspaper swiftly developed to become "Le Travail" (labour) and daily issues were published as of 1906. It was thanks thus on the impetus of these newspapers that a genuine workers' trade union structure sprang up in Verviers.