With the emergence of the Cold War in the late 1940s, the WFTU splintered, with most trade unions from the Western-aligned countries leaving and creating the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in 1949. Throughout the Cold War, membership of the WFTU was made up predominantly of trade unions from the Soviet-aligned and non-aligned countries. However, there were notable exceptions to this, such as the Yugoslav and Chinese unions, which departed following the Tito-Stalin and Sino-Soviet splits, respectively, or the French CGT and Italian CGIL unions, who were members. With the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the WFTU lost the largest portion of its membership and financial support. Since the start of the 2000s, the organization shifted headquarters to Athens and recruited new members, claiming to have grown from representing 48 million workers in 2005 to 105 million in 2022.
History
1955 USSR stamp with WFTU logo
Rise
The British Trades Union Congress (TUC) organized a World Trade Union Conference at County Hall, London from February 6-17, 1945. It was attended by 204 delegates from 53 national and international worker organizations, the majority of which with were trade union centers in the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. Discussions in the conference, which was chaired jointly by the TUC, American Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and Soviet All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions (AUCCTU), revolved around the future of the international labor movement, especially regarding what to do with the International Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) after World War II. A resolution was adopted to convene another global conference in Paris to create an international labor federation to be called the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU).[4][5][6]
Notably, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) boycotted both conferences. The AFL, led by vehemently anticommunist individuals, did not want to associate with Soviet trade unions. It was also not willing to join forces with the CIO, which broke away from the AFL in 1935 and was accused of weakening the labor movement in the US.[5]
The WFTU's mission was to bring together trade unions across the world in a single international organization. When created, the WFTU represented the first time since 1919 that the division at international level between communist and non-communist labor movements had formally been bridged.[5] After a number of Western trade unions left it in 1949, as a result of disputes over support for the Marshall Plan, to form the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the WFTU was made up primarily of unions affiliated with or allegedly sympathetic to communist parties. In the context of the Cold War, the WFTU was often portrayed in the West as a Soviet front organization.[7] A number of those unions, including those from Yugoslavia and China, left later when their governments had ideological differences with the Soviet Union.
The WFTU declined as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union and socialist governments in Eastern Europe, in particular in Europe, with many of its former constituent unions joining the ICFTU. That fall seems to have come to an end since the congress in Havana in 2005 where a new leadership was elected with Georges Mavrikos, a Greek union activist from PAME, leading member of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), at its head.
In January 2006 it moved headquarters from Prague, Czech Republic to Athens, Greece and reinvigorated its activity by putting focus on organizing regional federations of unions in the Third World, by organizing campaigns against imperialism, racism, poverty, environmental degradation and exploitation of workers under capitalism and in defense of full employment, social security, health protection, and trade union rights. The WFTU devotes much of its energy to organizing conferences, issuing statements and producing educational materials and courses for trade union leaders.
In recent years, the WFTU has successfully managed to recruit several trade unions of importance in Europe, amongst which the Rail Maritime Trade Union in Great Britain, the Unione Sindicale di Base in Italy. In France, the CGT National Federation of Agri-Food and Forestry has maintained its affiliation with the WFTU. The CGT National Federation of Chemical Industries sent delegates to the last congress in Athens in 2011. In 2013, two local CGT railway workers branches have taken steps to become affiliates with the WFTU.
The different offices of the WFTU across the different continents organize regular exchanges and militant visits of trade union activists from an affiliate to another in order to further discussions, foster internationalist ties, establish an international activity of its affiliates around shared objectives and campaigns, against common adversaries.
In Africa, unions of major importance such as COSATU in South Africa have affiliated with the WFTU.
During the late 1940s, the WFTU unsuccessfully tried to reach an agreement with already existing international trade secretariats. When the Union split in 1949 they were left without an organization at the level of specific industries, leading to the creation of the Trade Union International (TUI) system.
The TUI system has gone through a number of transformations in its over 60 years of existence. The following Trade Unions Internationals are constituted within the WFTU:[12]
World Federation of Teachers Unions – known by its French acronym FISE, this is the earliest affiliated union, founded in 1946. It maintained a degree of independence from the WFTU not exercised by the other TUIs.[13]
In 1949, the 2nd World Congress decided to create a series of sectoral unions, after their negotiations with already existing international trade secretariats failed. At first these were known as Trade Departments or International Federations, but they adopted the appellation "Trade Union Internationals" by the mid-1950s. The original TUIs formed in 1949 and 1950 were:[14][15][16]
The WFTU functioned during the Cold War largely as a unitary organization, bringing together unions from the Communist bloc and Western unions.
Trade Union International of Textile and Clothing Workers
Trade Union International of Leather, Shoe, Fur and Leather Products
Trade Unions International of Seamen and Dockers
Trade Unions International of Land and Air Transport Workers
Over time, some of these original eleven would expand their bases, change their names or merge:
In 1953, the TUIs of Seamen and Dockers and Land and Air Transport Workers merged to form the Trade Unions International of Transport, Port and Fishery Workers. By 1985, this union had adopted its present name, Trade Unions International of Transport Workers.[17]
In 1983 the TUI of Miners expanded its scope and became the Trade Unions International of Miners and Energy Workers. In 1986 it became the Trade Unions International of Energy Workers before ceasing activities.[21]
Other than the initial eleven, two new TUIs were formed during the course of the Cold War:
After the dissolution of the Eastern bloc, the Trade Unions International of Energy Workers and the Trade Union International of Metal and Engineering Workers temporarily suspended operations. In 1998 a conference was held in Havana which merged these two organizations and the Trade Union International of Chemical, Oil and Allied Workers in a new group, Trade Union International of Energy, Metal, Chemical, Oil and Allied Industries. This organization was reorganized again as the Trade Unions International of Energy Workers in 2007. This left the metal workers an opportunity create a new TUI the next year, Trade Union International of Workers in the Mining, the Metallurgy and the Metal Industries.[21][24]
In 1997 the Trade Union International of Agroalimentary, Food, Commerce, Textile & Allied Industries was formed by the merger of the Trade Union International of Agricultural, Forestry and Plantation Workers, Trade Union International of Food, Tobacco, Hotel and Allied Industries Workers, Trade Union International of Workers in Commerce, Trade Union International of Textile, Leather and Fur Workers Unions.[24]
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) was an international trade union. It came into being on 7 December 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), and was dissolved on 31 October 2006 when it merged with the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) to form the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
Organizers within trade unions have sought to increase the bargaining power of workers in regards to collective bargaining by acting in concert with other trade unions. Multi-union organizing can take place on an informal basis, or on a more formal basis via an umbrella organization comprising multiple trade unions. Such umbrella organizations may be referred to as a trade union federation, trade union confederation, or a trade union centre.
Education International (EI) is a global union federation (GUF) of teachers' trade unions consisting of 383 member organizations in 178 countries and territories that represents over 32 million education teachers and education support personnel from pre-school through university. It is one of the world's largest sectoral global union federations.
The Trade Union International of Chemical, Energy, Metal, Oil and Allied Workers (CHEMISTRY-ENERGY) is a sectoral body affiliated to the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). The international federations of national trade unions are organized in specific industry sectors or occupational groups.
George Mavrikos is the general secretary of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) in Athens, Greece. He is a leading member of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), and former member of Greek parliament. He is largely credited for having led the successful efforts to halt the decline of the World Federation of Trade Unions since the fall of the Soviet Union. Since his election as general secretary during the congress in Havana in 2005, the World Federation of Trade Unions has seen an increase in its number of affiliates and has successfully managed to recruit several trade union of importances in Western Europe.
Irving Brown was an American trade unionist and leader in the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and subsequently the AFL-CIO. Brown played a prominent role in Western Europe and Africa during the Cold War in splintering communist-led labor movements. Along with former Communist Party of the USA member Jay Lovestone, he founded the American Institute for Free Labor Development in 1962.
The International Federation of Trade Unions was an international organization of trade unions, existing between 1919 and 1945. IFTU had its roots in the pre-war IFTU.
The World Federation of Teachers Unions is the Trade Union International (TUI) branch of the World Federation of Trade Unions representing educators.
The Trade Union International Public Service and Allied is a section of the World Federation of Trade Unions representing public sector workers.
The Trade Union International of Transport Workers (TUI-TRANSPORT) is a sectoral federation of workers in the transport industry, affiliated with the World Federation of Trade Unions. It was formerly known as the Trade Unions International of Transport, Port and Fishery Workers.
The Trade Union International of Food, Tobacco, Hotel and Allied Industries Workers was a trade union international affiliated with the World Federation of Trade Unions.
The Trade Union International of Workers in Commerce was a trade union international affiliated with the World Federation of Trade Unions.
The Trade Union International of Textile, Leather and Fur Workers Unions was a trade union international affiliated with the World Federation of Trade Unions.
The Trade Unions International of Chemical, Oil and Allied Workers was a trade union international affiliated with the World Federation of Trade Unions. It was often known by its French initials, ICPS.
The Trade Union International of Workers in the Metal Industry was a trade union international affiliated to the World Federation of Trade Unions.
The Trade Union International of Agricultural, Forestry and Plantation Workers was a trade union international affiliated with the World Federation of Trade Unions.
Walter Schevenels was a Belgian trade union official.
Pierre Gensous was a French trade unionist.
The Trade Union International of Textile-Garment-Leather is a sectoral federation affiliated to the World Federation of Trade Unions.
↑ The World Federation of Trade Unions, 1945-1985. Prague: WTFU (published October 1985). 1985. p.31.
1 2 3 Anthony Carew (2018). American Labour’s Cold War Abroad: From Deep Freeze to Détente, 1945-1970. Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar: Athabasca University Press. p.17. ISBN978-1-77199-211-4.
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