 | |
| Predecessor | IFTU |
|---|---|
| Founded | October 3, 1945; 80 years ago (1945-10-03) |
| Headquarters | Athens |
| Location | |
| Members | 105 million (2022) |
President | Mzwandile Makwayiba |
Key people | Pambis Kyritsis(General Secretary) |
| Website | wftucentral.org |
| [1] | |
TheWorld Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) is an international federation oftrade unions established on October 3, 1945.[2] Founded in the immediate aftermath of World War Two, the organization built on the pre-war legacy of theInternational Federation of Trade Unions as a single structure for trade unions world-wide, following theWorld Trade Union Conference inLondon,United Kingdom.[3]
With the emergence of theCold War in the late 1940s, the WFTU splintered, with most trade unions from theWestern-aligned countries leaving and creating theInternational Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in 1949. Throughout the Cold War, membership of the WFTU was made up predominantly of trade unions from theSoviet-aligned andnon-aligned countries. However, there were notable exceptions to this, such as the Yugoslav and Chinese unions, which departed following theTito-Stalin and Sino-Soviet splits, respectively, or the FrenchCGT and ItalianCGIL unions, who were members. With theend of the Cold War and thedissolution 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.
The BritishTrades 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 theInternational 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, theAmerican 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 togethertrade 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 ofWestern trade unions left it in 1949, as a result of disputes over support for theMarshall Plan, to form theInternational Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the WFTU was made up primarily of unions affiliated with or allegedly sympathetic tocommunist parties. In the context of theCold War, the WFTU was often portrayed in the West as a Soviet front organization.[7] A number of those unions, including those fromYugoslavia andChina, left later when their governments had ideological differences with theSoviet Union.
In 1952, the WFTU organised a speaking tour of the Caribbean for communist activistsBilly Strachan andFerdinand Smith.[8]
The WFTU declined as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union and socialist governments inEastern 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 inHavana in 2005 where a new leadership was elected with Georges Mavrikos, a Greek union activist fromPAME, leading member of theCommunist Party of Greece (KKE), at its head.
In January 2006 it moved headquarters fromPrague,Czech Republic toAthens,Greece and reinvigorated its activity by putting focus on organizing regional federations of unions in theThird World, by organizing campaigns against imperialism, racism, poverty,environmental degradation andexploitation 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 them the Rail Maritime Trade Union in Great Britain and theUnione Sindacale di Base in Italy. In France, the CGTNational Federation of Agri-Food and Forestry has maintained its affiliation with the WFTU. The CGTNational 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 asCOSATU in South Africa have affiliated with the WFTU.
As part of its efforts to advance its international agenda, the WFTU develops working partnerships with national and industrial trade unions worldwide as well as with a number of international and regional trade union organizations including theOrganization of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU), theInternational Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU), thePermanent Congress of Trade Union Unity of Latin America (CPUSTAL), and theGeneral Confederation of Trade Unions ofCommonwealth of Independent States.
The WFTU holds consultative status with theEconomic and Social Council of the United Nations, theILO,UNESCO,FAO, and other UN agencies. It maintains permanent missions in New York, Geneva, and Rome.
Example of National affiliates of the WFTU include:[9]
North Korea)
Greece)
Kazakhstan)
Italy)
Bangladesh)Bangladesh)Bangladesh)
Vietnam)
Turkey)
United Kingdom)
South Africa)
Bolivia)
Cuba)
Palestine)
Peru)
Syria)
India)India)India)
Spain)Spain)Spain)Spain)Spain)Spain)
Iran)
Brazil)Brazil)[10]
Serbia)
USA)[11]
Monaco)
France)France)
Russia)
Indonesia)
Cyprus)
Portugal)
Philippines)
Laos)
Ecuador)During the late 1940s, the WFTU unsuccessfully tried to reach an agreement with already existinginternational 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 theTrade 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]
Over time, some of these original eleven would expand their bases, change their names or merge:
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 inHavana 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 theTrade 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 theTrade 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]
TheTrade Union International of Workers in Tourism and Hotels[25] was founded in 2009, theTrade Union International of Banks, Insurance and Financial Unions Employees[26] in 2011 and theTrade Union International of Pensioners and Retired Persons in 2014.[27] In 2020, a newTrade Union International of Textile-Garment-Leather was founded.[28]
France)France)
Uruguay)
Sudan)Russia)Greece)Cyprus)United Kingdom)United Kingdom)Italy)Italy)Italy)Uruguay)
Hungary)India)Sudan)Brazil)India)Syria)South Africa)| List of World Trade Union Conferences | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Dates | Venue | ||
| I | 25 September- 9 October | 1945 | Paris | France |
| II | 29 June-9 July | 1949 | Milan | Italy |
| III | 10-21 October | 1953 | Vienna |  Austria |
| IV | 4-15 October | 1957 | Leipzig |  German Democratic Republic |
| V | 4-15 December | 1961 | Moscow |  Soviet Union |
| VI | 8-22 October | 1965 | Warsaw |  Polish People's Republic |
| VII | 17-26 October | 1969 | Budapest | Hungarian People's Republic |
| VIII | 15-22 October | 1973 | Varna |  People's Republic of Bulgaria |
| IX | 16-22 April | 1978 | Prague |  Czechoslovakia |
| X | 10-15 February | 1982 | Havana | Cuba |
| XI | 16-22 September | 1986 | East Berlin | German Democratic Republic |
| XII | 13-20 November | 1990 | Moscow | Soviet Union |
| XIII | 22-26 November | 1994 | Damascus |  Ba'athist Syria |
| XIV | 25-28 March | 2000 | Delhi | India |
| XV | 1-3 December | 2005 | Havana | Cuba |
| XVI | 6-10 April | 2011 | Athens | Greece |
| XVII | 5-7 October | 2016 | Durban | South Africa |
| XVIII | 6-8 May | 2022 | Rome | Italy |
