Labor and Political Career
Having worked at Quelle AG for quite a while, Schmidt was elected to the company's works council in 1972; she was not required to work from 1973 to 1980, because of this. From 1980 to 1988, she was the Bavarian state chairman of the labor union HBV (Gewerkschaft Handel, Banken und Versicherungen; En: Labor Union Trade, Banks and Insurances).
Schmidt joined the SPD in 1972. In 1973, she and her husband founded a local chapter of the SPD youth organization. In 1980, she was elected to the Bundestag. From 1987 to 1990, she was deputy chairman of SPD-Fraktion in the Bundestag; from 1990 to 1994, she was Vice-President of the Bundestag.
In 1999, she announced she would retire from politics; this retirement ended, however, in 2002, and since 22 October the same year she has been Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. After the grand coalition took over power in 2005, she was discharged from her office and replaced by Ursula von der Leyen.
Read more about this topic: Renate Schmidt
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