International Federation of Trade Unions
Encyclopedia
The International Federation of Trade Unions (also known as the Amsterdam International) was an international organization of trade union
s, existing between 1919 and 1945. IFTU had its roots in the pre-war IFTU
.
IFTU had close links to the Labour and Socialist International
. The IFTU was opposed by the Communist-controlled trade unions. After the American AFL
dropped out in 1925 the IFTU became a mainly European body with social democratic orientation. Its primary activity was to lobby the League of Nations
and national governments on behalf of the International Labour Organization
(ILO).
There were various International Trade Secretariats. The major ITS was the International Transportworkers Federation
.
As of 1930 it had affiliates in 29 countries and a combined membership of 13.5 million. Its headquarters was in Amsterdam 1919-1930, in Berlin 1931-1933, in Paris 1933-1940 and in London 1940-1945. Walter Schevenels was the secretary-general of the IFTU 1930-1945. The IFTU dissolved in 1945 to be replaced by the World Federation of Trade Unions
(WFTU).
, February 5-February 9, 1919, after the First World War.
The constituent congress of IFTU was held in the Amsterdam
Concertgebouw in July 1919. Union representatives from 14 countries took part (United States, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Great Britain, Holland, Luxemburg, Norway, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Czechoslovakia), representing a combined membership of 17.7 million.
All delegations at the 1919 congress were Europeans, except the American Federation of Labor
. However, the AFL delegate Samuel Gompers
participated with a mandate from the Pan-American Federation of Labor
. The only major industrial country absent was Italy
, whose delegates encountered passport problems.
In the refounded IFTU the general principle was that only one national centre per country would be admitted. However, at the founding congress there were exceptions. The British delegation consisted of both TUC and GFTU
representatives. From Germany
and the Netherlands
both Social Democratic
(GGWD and NVV) and Syndicalist
(VDGW and NAS) trade unions participated.
At the congress there were two candidates for the presidency of IFTU. The Briton W. A. Appleton was elected with 31 votes against 18 for the Dutchman Jan Oudegeest. Appleton had been nominated by Samuel Gompers whilst Oudegeest had been nominated by Arvid Thorberg
. Two vice-presidents were also elected. In the election for the first vice-president the German Carl Legien
was defeated by the Frenchman Léon Jouhaux
. The defeat of the German candidate could be seen as an indication that many trade unionists in the former Allied countries
were suspicious of the Germans, who had dominated the international labour movement before the war. Following Legien's defeat, the German and Austrian delegations abstained from nominating candidates for the second vice-president. The Belgian Cornel Mertens was elected to the position. Jan Oudegeest and fellow Dutchman Edo Fimmen were elected general secretaries.
, a resolution opposed by the Gompers. In the end, the Gompers decided that the AFL would not affiliate itself with the IFTU.
IFTU was an almost exclusively European organization. Four non-European countries were had IFTU affiliates; Canada
, Argentina
, Peru
and Palestine
(Histadrut
). Histadrut joined IFTU in 1923. But these affiliations were largely dormant. Prior to 1937 the American affiliates played no role in the organization, and had no representation in the IFTU membership. Notably, the British TUC was reluctant to expanding the IFTU activities to India and other British colonies.
The socialist orientation of IFTU was complicated by the fact that the president, Appleton, came from the non-political camp and had been an ally of Gompers. Moreover, IFTU demanded that the British TUC and GFTU had to merge into a single organization. The result was that TUC decided that it would be the sole British representative in the IFTU. Thus the GFTU leader Appleton resigned as IFTU president. He was replaced by J. H. Thomas.
In 1922 the second IFTU conference was held in Rome. At the Rome conference several new members were affiliated to the IFTU, from Greece
, Bulgaria
, Latvia
, Czechoslovakia
, Yugoslavia
, Hungary
and Latvia
. Through this expansion, the IFTU membership reached its peak of 24 million. However, the Norwegian LO
withdrew from IFTU in protest to the policy of IFTU towards the Soviet Union
. Soon after the Rome conference, the fascist regime in Italy would repress the Italian unions.
The Rome congress elected Theodor Leiphart as vice-president. It also chose Vienna
as the site of the next IFTU congress. Both of these decisions were seen by contemporary analysists as a partial rehabiliation of the Germans inside the IFTU.
. The Peace Conference marked the height of influence of IFTU. The initiative to hold the conference had come from Fimmen, who represented a radical and anti-militarist position. 700 delegates assisted the conference. Unlike other IFTU events, delegates from the Soviet Union were invited. In his inaugural speech, Fimmen, stated that any new world war would be confronted by a global general strike
.
However when French troops occupied the Ruhr a month later, the promised general strike did not occur. The German ADGB opposed initiating a general strike. The IFTU did not go beyond a general call for peace and arbitration through the League of Nations
. Fimmen became increasingly disillusioned over these developments. In November 1923 he resigned as ITUF general secretary.
At the Hague Peace Conference Johannes Sassenbach was appointed as the third general secretary of IFTU and J. W. Brown as assistant secretary. After a protest from the TUC, Brown was elevated general secretary in August 1923 bringing the number of IFTU general secretaries to four.
surged in Germany, the economy of IFTU suffered. Moreover the ADGB lost 1.5 million members, whilst the British TUC 2.3 million. The French CGT lost 750 000 members as the communists
split and formed a parallel CGTU. The Greek, Peruvian and Argentine union centres had pulled out of IFTU. The economical situation in IFTU was grave, and the secretariat had to down-size. The federation survived due to the financial contributions of the TUC.
The congress of IFTU was held in Vienna from 2 to 6 June 1924. By the time of the congress the situation in Europe had stabilized somewhat. The Vienna congress elected A. A. Purcell of the TUC as the new IFTU president.
In 1926 IFTU went into financial crisis. Nine of the national affiliates hadn't followed through with their financial commitments to IFTU. The offices in Amsterdam was mortgaged. The IFTU printing office in Germany had to be sold. The TUC decided to freeze their contributions to IFTU, demanding an audit of the IFTU expenses.
The congress continued with mutual accusations of intriguing between the TUC and the continental Europe
ans. Brown and Oudegeest decided to resign from their positions. Purcell was re-elected as president, but by only one vote. Johannes Sassenbach was re-elected general secretary. Two vice-presidents was elected, Carl Madsen from Denmark and Rudolf Tayerlé
from Czechoslovakia
.
The TUC and IFTU reconciled later in 1927, as the TUC broke its links to the Soviet trade unions. However, the continental unions had zero confidence in Purcell. In the end, Purcell resigned on his own. He was replaced by the TUC general secretary Walter Citrine in 1928.
By 1927 IFTU had around 13.5 million members. The decline in membership was mainly due to membership losses in the German union movement. However, the IFTU had attracted some new affiliates; in Lithuania
, Memel Territory, Argentina
(CORA) and South Africa (Industrial and Commercial Workers Unions of South Africa).
In 1928 the Danish vice-president Madsen resigned, and was replaced by fellow Dane Hans Jacobsen.
, which formed the short-lived Confederación Obrera Ibero Americana
. Participants at the conference were the Confederación Obrera Argentina and pro-government trade unionists from Venezuela
, Uruguay
, Cuba
and Spain
.
In 1928 the Arbeiterverband für Südwestafrika
was affiliated to IFTU (initially IFTU had demanded that the Arbeiterverband would scrap its ban on African membership, but later retracted the demand). Confederación Obrera de Argentina rejoined the IFTU, but the contacts were lost again soon afterwards. Persatoean Vabonden Pegawai Negeri from the Dutch East Indies
joined IFTU.
In 1934 the Argentine CGT
and the National Trades Union Federation from India became a member of IFTU.
(France
), Johannes Sassenbach (Germany
) general secretary, Walter Citrine (Britain
) president, Walter Schevenels (Belgium
), Theodor Leipart (Germany
), Rudolf Tayerlé
(Czechoslovakia
), Corneel Mertens (Belgium
) and Hans Jacobsen (Denmark
).
Ahead of the 1930 Stockholm
congress of IFTU the TUC and ADGB agreed to share the two main positions (presidency and secretariat) between themselves. The secretariat heaquarters would, according to the deal, be shifted to Germany. At the congress several delegations from European countries opposed moving the headquarters out of Amsterdam. Fear of the consequences of the rise of National Socialism in Germany was one of the reasons cited in their argumentation against the move. However in July 1931, the headquarters of IFTU were shifted to Hansahaus, Köpernickestrasse, Berlin.
On February 1, 1931 Sassenbach resigned due to old age. He was replaced by his assistant, the Belgian Walter Schevenels. Georg Stoltz from Czechoslovakia was appointed as Schevenels' assistant.
As a result of the financial crisis and rise of fascism, the bonds between IFTU and the Labour and Socialist International were strengthened. Effectively the political situation radicalized the IFTU. In April 1931, a IFTU General Council meeting held in Madrid
decided to shift the IFTU demand for 44-hour working-week to demanding 40-hour working week. Ahead of the 1932 disarmament conference of the League of Nations, the IFTU president Citrine and the LSI president Emile Vandervelde
drafted an appeal against war and fascism. The appeal was signed by 14 million people.
The IFTU headquarters had to shift away from Berlin as the NSDAP took power in Germany. Paris was selected as the new venue of the IFTU secretariat, which was set up in the CGT office at Avenue d'Orsay. Soon after this shift, the German trade unions were banned. The disappearance of ADGB created a great void in IFTU. The financial situation of IFTU deteriorated as contributions from the German and Austrian unions ceased.
The 1933 IFTU congress in Brussels
discussed how to confront the advances of Nazism. The congress resolved to turn the existing initiatives of boycotts of German goods into a general blockade. That decision was however never implemented. On the whole the IFTU was divided on how to confront Nazism, much to the dismay of the exiled German union leaders.
In 1936 IFTU held a congress in London.
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s, existing between 1919 and 1945. IFTU had its roots in the pre-war IFTU
International Secretariat of National Trade Union Centres
International Secretariat of National Trade Union Centres , later renamed the International Federation of Trade Unions, was an international consultative body of trade unions...
.
IFTU had close links to the Labour and Socialist International
Labour and Socialist International
The Labour and Socialist International was an international organization of socialist and labour parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The LSI was a forerunner of the present-day Socialist International....
. The IFTU was opposed by the Communist-controlled trade unions. After the American AFL
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association. Samuel Gompers was elected president of the Federation at its...
dropped out in 1925 the IFTU became a mainly European body with social democratic orientation. Its primary activity was to lobby the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
and national governments on behalf of the International Labour Organization
International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that deals with labour issues pertaining to international labour standards. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. Its secretariat — the people who are employed by it throughout the world — is known as the...
(ILO).
There were various International Trade Secretariats. The major ITS was the International Transportworkers Federation
International Transport Workers' Federation
The International Transport Workers' Federation is a global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2009 the ITF had 654 member organizations in 148 countries, representing a combined membership of 4.5 million workers....
.
As of 1930 it had affiliates in 29 countries and a combined membership of 13.5 million. Its headquarters was in Amsterdam 1919-1930, in Berlin 1931-1933, in Paris 1933-1940 and in London 1940-1945. Walter Schevenels was the secretary-general of the IFTU 1930-1945. The IFTU dissolved in 1945 to be replaced by the World Federation of Trade Unions
World Federation of Trade Unions
The World Federation of Trade Unions was established in 1945 to replace the International Federation of Trade Unions. Its mission was to bring together trade unions across the world in a single international organization, much like the United Nations...
(WFTU).
Founding
The European trade union movement had been divided by the First World War. An international meeting of trade unions was held in Bern, SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, February 5-February 9, 1919, after the First World War.
The constituent congress of IFTU was held in the Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
Concertgebouw in July 1919. Union representatives from 14 countries took part (United States, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Great Britain, Holland, Luxemburg, Norway, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Czechoslovakia), representing a combined membership of 17.7 million.
All delegations at the 1919 congress were Europeans, except the American Federation of Labor
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association. Samuel Gompers was elected president of the Federation at its...
. However, the AFL delegate Samuel Gompers
Samuel Gompers
Samuel Gompers was an English-born American cigar maker who became a labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor , and served as that organization's president from 1886 to 1894 and from 1895 until his death in 1924...
participated with a mandate from the Pan-American Federation of Labor
Pan-American Federation of Labor
Pan-American Federation of Labor was an international trade union organization, promoted by the American Federation of Labor. The organization was founded at a conference in Laredo, Texas, USA in December 1918. At the conference, 72 delegates took part, 46 from USA, 21 from Mexico and five from...
. The only major industrial country absent was Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, whose delegates encountered passport problems.
In the refounded IFTU the general principle was that only one national centre per country would be admitted. However, at the founding congress there were exceptions. The British delegation consisted of both TUC and GFTU
General Federation of Trade Unions (UK)
The General Federation of Trade Unions is a national trade union centre in the United Kingdom. It has 35 affiliates with a membership of just over 214,000 and describes itself as the "federation for specialist unions".-History:...
representatives. From Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
both Social Democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
(GGWD and NVV) and Syndicalist
Syndicalism
Syndicalism is a type of economic system proposed as a replacement for capitalism and an alternative to state socialism, which uses federations of collectivised trade unions or industrial unions...
(VDGW and NAS) trade unions participated.
At the congress there were two candidates for the presidency of IFTU. The Briton W. A. Appleton was elected with 31 votes against 18 for the Dutchman Jan Oudegeest. Appleton had been nominated by Samuel Gompers whilst Oudegeest had been nominated by Arvid Thorberg
Arvid Thorberg
Arvid Thorberg was a Swedish trade union organizer. By profession he was a carpenter, and belonged to the Wood Workers Union. He was the chairman of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation from 1920-1930.-References:...
. Two vice-presidents were also elected. In the election for the first vice-president the German Carl Legien
Carl Legien
Carl Legien was a German unionist, moderate Social Democratic politician and first President of the International Federation of Trade Unions.- Biography :...
was defeated by the Frenchman Léon Jouhaux
Léon Jouhaux
Léon Jouhaux was a French trade union leader who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1951.Jouhaux's father worked in a match factory in Aubervilliers. His secondary schooling ended when his father's earnings were stopped by a strike. He gained employment at the factory at age sixteen and immediately...
. The defeat of the German candidate could be seen as an indication that many trade unionists in the former Allied countries
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
were suspicious of the Germans, who had dominated the international labour movement before the war. Following Legien's defeat, the German and Austrian delegations abstained from nominating candidates for the second vice-president. The Belgian Cornel Mertens was elected to the position. Jan Oudegeest and fellow Dutchman Edo Fimmen were elected general secretaries.
Political contradictions
The new international was politically Social Democratic. In the pre-war IFTU there had been both socialist and non-political union centres, but at the Amsterdam congress Oudegeest pronounced that the refounded IFTU would have a socialist orientation. The socialist profile was important, as in most countries in Europe the IFTU faced communist opposition at the time. The Amsterdam congress adopted a resolution advocating the socialization of the means of productionMeans of production
Means of production refers to physical, non-human inputs used in production—the factories, machines, and tools used to produce wealth — along with both infrastructural capital and natural capital. This includes the classical factors of production minus financial capital and minus human capital...
, a resolution opposed by the Gompers. In the end, the Gompers decided that the AFL would not affiliate itself with the IFTU.
IFTU was an almost exclusively European organization. Four non-European countries were had IFTU affiliates; Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
(Histadrut
Histadrut
HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael , known as the Histadrut, is Israel's organization of trade unions. Established in December 1920 during the British Mandate for Palestine, it became one of the most powerful institutions of the State of Israel.-History:The Histadrut was founded in...
). Histadrut joined IFTU in 1923. But these affiliations were largely dormant. Prior to 1937 the American affiliates played no role in the organization, and had no representation in the IFTU membership. Notably, the British TUC was reluctant to expanding the IFTU activities to India and other British colonies.
The socialist orientation of IFTU was complicated by the fact that the president, Appleton, came from the non-political camp and had been an ally of Gompers. Moreover, IFTU demanded that the British TUC and GFTU had to merge into a single organization. The result was that TUC decided that it would be the sole British representative in the IFTU. Thus the GFTU leader Appleton resigned as IFTU president. He was replaced by J. H. Thomas.
London and Rome congresses
In 1920 an extraordinary IFTU congress was held in London.In 1922 the second IFTU conference was held in Rome. At the Rome conference several new members were affiliated to the IFTU, from Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
. Through this expansion, the IFTU membership reached its peak of 24 million. However, the Norwegian LO
Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions
The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national unions affiliated to the LO have more than 850,000 members of a Norwegian population of 4.8 million...
withdrew from IFTU in protest to the policy of IFTU towards the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Soon after the Rome conference, the fascist regime in Italy would repress the Italian unions.
The Rome congress elected Theodor Leiphart as vice-president. It also chose Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
as the site of the next IFTU congress. Both of these decisions were seen by contemporary analysists as a partial rehabiliation of the Germans inside the IFTU.
Hague Peace Conference
December 10-December 15, 1922 the IFTU organized an internal Peace Conference in the Hague. The conference took place in the backdrop of mounting military tension over the RuhrRuhr
The Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany , a right tributary of the Rhine.-Description:The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet...
. The Peace Conference marked the height of influence of IFTU. The initiative to hold the conference had come from Fimmen, who represented a radical and anti-militarist position. 700 delegates assisted the conference. Unlike other IFTU events, delegates from the Soviet Union were invited. In his inaugural speech, Fimmen, stated that any new world war would be confronted by a global general strike
General strike
A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
.
However when French troops occupied the Ruhr a month later, the promised general strike did not occur. The German ADGB opposed initiating a general strike. The IFTU did not go beyond a general call for peace and arbitration through the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
. Fimmen became increasingly disillusioned over these developments. In November 1923 he resigned as ITUF general secretary.
At the Hague Peace Conference Johannes Sassenbach was appointed as the third general secretary of IFTU and J. W. Brown as assistant secretary. After a protest from the TUC, Brown was elevated general secretary in August 1923 bringing the number of IFTU general secretaries to four.
Impact of crisis in Germany
By 1923, the influence of IFTU had already passed its peak. As hyperinflationHyperinflation
In economics, hyperinflation is inflation that is very high or out of control. While the real values of the specific economic items generally stay the same in terms of relatively stable foreign currencies, in hyperinflationary conditions the general price level within a specific economy increases...
surged in Germany, the economy of IFTU suffered. Moreover the ADGB lost 1.5 million members, whilst the British TUC 2.3 million. The French CGT lost 750 000 members as the communists
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
split and formed a parallel CGTU. The Greek, Peruvian and Argentine union centres had pulled out of IFTU. The economical situation in IFTU was grave, and the secretariat had to down-size. The federation survived due to the financial contributions of the TUC.
The congress of IFTU was held in Vienna from 2 to 6 June 1924. By the time of the congress the situation in Europe had stabilized somewhat. The Vienna congress elected A. A. Purcell of the TUC as the new IFTU president.
In 1926 IFTU went into financial crisis. Nine of the national affiliates hadn't followed through with their financial commitments to IFTU. The offices in Amsterdam was mortgaged. The IFTU printing office in Germany had to be sold. The TUC decided to freeze their contributions to IFTU, demanding an audit of the IFTU expenses.
Paris congress
In 1927 the IFTU congress was held in Paris. At the congress, TUC confronted the continental unions. TUC demanded that the headquarters be shifted away from Amsterdam, that Purcell's mandate be renewed, and that fellow Briton Brown should be elected as the sole general secretary. In his speech to the congress, Purcell called for the inclusion of the Soviet union movement into the IFTU. The proposal was rejected by the leaders of continental unions.The congress continued with mutual accusations of intriguing between the TUC and the continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
ans. Brown and Oudegeest decided to resign from their positions. Purcell was re-elected as president, but by only one vote. Johannes Sassenbach was re-elected general secretary. Two vice-presidents was elected, Carl Madsen from Denmark and Rudolf Tayerlé
Rudolf Tayerlé
Rudolf Tayerlé was a Czechoslovak Social Democratic politician and trade union leader. In 1922 he was instrumental in expelling the communists from the Odborové sdružení českoslovanské. In 1942 he was elected vice-president of the International Federation of Trade Unions. Tayerlé was arrested...
from Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
.
The TUC and IFTU reconciled later in 1927, as the TUC broke its links to the Soviet trade unions. However, the continental unions had zero confidence in Purcell. In the end, Purcell resigned on his own. He was replaced by the TUC general secretary Walter Citrine in 1928.
By 1927 IFTU had around 13.5 million members. The decline in membership was mainly due to membership losses in the German union movement. However, the IFTU had attracted some new affiliates; in Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Memel Territory, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
(CORA) and South Africa (Industrial and Commercial Workers Unions of South Africa).
In 1928 the Danish vice-president Madsen resigned, and was replaced by fellow Dane Hans Jacobsen.
Expansion outside Europe
During 1928-1929, the IFTU broadened its contacts to the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Citrine, like his predecessor Purcell, had seen the geographic limitations of IFTU as a major weakness of the organization. In 1928, IFTU organized a meeting in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, which formed the short-lived Confederación Obrera Ibero Americana
Confederación Obrera Ibero Americana
Confederación Obrera Ibero Americana was a short-lived Ibero-American trade union confederation, formed by the International Federation of Trade Unions at a meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1928. Participants at the founding conference were the Confederación Obrera Argentina and...
. Participants at the conference were the Confederación Obrera Argentina and pro-government trade unionists from Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
In 1928 the Arbeiterverband für Südwestafrika
Arbeiterverband für Südwestafrika
Arbeiterverband für Südwestafrika was a trade union centre in South West Africa. It was an affiliate of the International Federation of Trade Unions 1929-1939. The affiliation to IFTU had been approved in principle, on the condition that Arbeiterverband remove its policy of blocking Africans from...
was affiliated to IFTU (initially IFTU had demanded that the Arbeiterverband would scrap its ban on African membership, but later retracted the demand). Confederación Obrera de Argentina rejoined the IFTU, but the contacts were lost again soon afterwards. Persatoean Vabonden Pegawai Negeri from the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
joined IFTU.
In 1934 the Argentine CGT
General Confederation of Labour (Argentina)
The General Confederation of Labour of the Argentine Republic is a national trade union centre of Argentina founded on September 27, 1930, as the result of the merge of the USA and the COA trade union centres...
and the National Trades Union Federation from India became a member of IFTU.
International financial crisis and the rise of fascism
As of 1930, the Executive Board of IFTU consisted of Léon JouhauxLéon Jouhaux
Léon Jouhaux was a French trade union leader who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1951.Jouhaux's father worked in a match factory in Aubervilliers. His secondary schooling ended when his father's earnings were stopped by a strike. He gained employment at the factory at age sixteen and immediately...
(France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
), Johannes Sassenbach (Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) general secretary, Walter Citrine (Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
) president, Walter Schevenels (Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
), Theodor Leipart (Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
), Rudolf Tayerlé
Rudolf Tayerlé
Rudolf Tayerlé was a Czechoslovak Social Democratic politician and trade union leader. In 1922 he was instrumental in expelling the communists from the Odborové sdružení českoslovanské. In 1942 he was elected vice-president of the International Federation of Trade Unions. Tayerlé was arrested...
(Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
), Corneel Mertens (Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
) and Hans Jacobsen (Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
).
Ahead of the 1930 Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
congress of IFTU the TUC and ADGB agreed to share the two main positions (presidency and secretariat) between themselves. The secretariat heaquarters would, according to the deal, be shifted to Germany. At the congress several delegations from European countries opposed moving the headquarters out of Amsterdam. Fear of the consequences of the rise of National Socialism in Germany was one of the reasons cited in their argumentation against the move. However in July 1931, the headquarters of IFTU were shifted to Hansahaus, Köpernickestrasse, Berlin.
On February 1, 1931 Sassenbach resigned due to old age. He was replaced by his assistant, the Belgian Walter Schevenels. Georg Stoltz from Czechoslovakia was appointed as Schevenels' assistant.
As a result of the financial crisis and rise of fascism, the bonds between IFTU and the Labour and Socialist International were strengthened. Effectively the political situation radicalized the IFTU. In April 1931, a IFTU General Council meeting held in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
decided to shift the IFTU demand for 44-hour working-week to demanding 40-hour working week. Ahead of the 1932 disarmament conference of the League of Nations, the IFTU president Citrine and the LSI president Emile Vandervelde
Emile Vandervelde
thumb|upright|Emile VanderveldeEmile Vandervelde was a Belgian statesman, born at Ixelles. He studied law at the Free University of Brussels and became doctor of laws in 1885 and doctor of social science in 1888.-Activities:Vandervelde became a member of the Parti Ouvrier...
drafted an appeal against war and fascism. The appeal was signed by 14 million people.
The IFTU headquarters had to shift away from Berlin as the NSDAP took power in Germany. Paris was selected as the new venue of the IFTU secretariat, which was set up in the CGT office at Avenue d'Orsay. Soon after this shift, the German trade unions were banned. The disappearance of ADGB created a great void in IFTU. The financial situation of IFTU deteriorated as contributions from the German and Austrian unions ceased.
The 1933 IFTU congress in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
discussed how to confront the advances of Nazism. The congress resolved to turn the existing initiatives of boycotts of German goods into a general blockade. That decision was however never implemented. On the whole the IFTU was divided on how to confront Nazism, much to the dismay of the exiled German union leaders.
In 1936 IFTU held a congress in London.
Further reading
- Linden, Marcel van der, ed. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (Bern: Lang, 2000). 624 pp.
- Reiner Tosstorff, "The International Trade-Union Movement and the Founding of the International Labour Organization," International Review of Social History 2005 50(3): 399-433
- Fabio Bertini, "Gilliatt e la piovra. Il sindacalismo internazionale dalle origini ad oggi (1776-2006", Roma, Aracne, 2011, 616 pp.