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). 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. A number of those unions, including those from
Yugoslavia and
China, left later when their governments had ideological differences with the
Soviet Union. In 1952, the WFTU organised a speaking tour of the Caribbean for communist activists
Billy Strachan and
Ferdinand Smith.
Decline 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 them the Rail Maritime Trade Union in Great Britain and the
Unione Sindacale 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. 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 the
Organization of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU), the
International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU), the
Permanent Congress of Trade Union Unity of Latin America (CPUSTAL), and the
General Confederation of Trade Unions of
Commonwealth of Independent States. The WFTU holds consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, the
ILO,
UNESCO,
FAO, and other UN agencies. It maintains permanent missions in New York, Geneva, and Rome. == Affiliates ==