View source for International Confederation of Free Trade Unions

{{Short description|International trade union federation}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2023}}
<!--This article is in Commonwealth English-->
{{Infobox organization
|name         = ICFTU
|location_country= International
|affiliation  = International
|members      = 155 million in 148 countries <small>(2006)</small>
|full_name    = International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
|native_name  = 
|image        = [[File:ICFTU logo.svg|150px]]
|founded      = 7 December 1949
|dissolved    = 31 October 2006
|merged       = [[International Trade Union Confederation|ITUC]]
|headquarters = [[Brussels]], Belgium
|key_people   = 
|website      = {{URL|http://www.ituc-csi.org}}
|footnotes    = 
}}

<!--SUMMARY: The '''International Confederation of Free Trade Unions''' ('''ICFTU''') is the largest international [[trade union]] confederation in the world. It claims 157 million members in 225 affiliated organisations in 148 countries and territories.

The ICFTU was created 7 December 1949 following an ideological split within the [[World Federation of Trade Unions]]. A large number of non-communist national trade union federations (including the U.S. [[AFL-CIO]], the British [[Trades Union Congress|TUC]], the French [[Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail|CFDT]], the Italian CISL and the Spanish [[Unión General de Trabajadores|UGT]]) seceded and created the rival ICFTU at a conference in [[London]] attended by representatives of nearly 48 million members in 53 countries.

The ICFTU has three regional organisations, [[ICFTU Asia and Pacific Regional Organisation|APRO]] for Asia and the Pacific, [[ICFTU African Regional Organisation|AFRO]] for Africa, and [[ICFTU Inter American Regional Organisation of Workers|ORIT]] for the Americas and Caribbean. The ICFTU also maintains close links with the [[European Trade Union Confederation]] (ETUC) (which includes all ICFTU European affiliates) and [[Global union federation|Global Union Federations]], which link together national unions from a particular trade or industry at international level.

Every year the ICFTU publishes an annual report which documents violations by governments, industries, and military and police forces against both workers and related trade unions.-->
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).

Prior to being dissolved, the ICFTU had a membership of 157 million members in 225 affiliated organisations in 148 countries and territories.

==History==
{{Social democracy sidebar|sp=uk}}
{{labor|sp=uk}}
[[File:AFL Delegates to the ICFTU Conference in London 1949 B&W.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|[[American Federation of Labor]] delegates to the ICFTU's founding conference in [[London]], 1949.<br /><small>'''(L-R):''' [[George McGregor Harrison]], [[Jay Lovestone]], [[George Meany]], [[William C. Doherty]], [[Matthew Woll]], [[William Green (U.S. labor leader)|William Green]], Henry Rutz, [[David Dubinsky]], George P. Delaney, James A. Brownlow, [[Irving Brown]] and Taylor Buchanan.</small>]]
In 1949, early in the [[Cold War]], alleging [[Communism|Communist]] domination of the WFTU's central institutions, a large number of non-communist national trade union federations (including the U.S. [[Congress of Industrial Organizations]] (CIO), the British [[Trades Union Congress|TUC]], the French [[Force Ouvrière|FO]], the Italian [[Italian Confederation of Workers' Trade Unions|CISL]] and the Spanish [[Unión General de Trabajadores|UGT]]) seceded and created the rival ICFTU at a conference in [[London]] attended by representatives of nearly 48 million members in 53 countries.

Throughout its existence, the ICFTU had internal disputes over what approach to hold to communism.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Carew |first=Anthony |date=1996 |title=Conflict Within the ICFTU: Anti-Communism and Anti-Colonialism in the 1950s |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-review-of-social-history/article/conflict-within-the-icftu-anticommunism-and-anticolonialism-in-the-1950s/CD0D332C4F214381111B166D966EE892 |journal=International Review of Social History |language=en |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=147–181 |doi=10.1017/S0020859000113859 |issn=1469-512X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

From the 1950s the ICFTU actively recruited new members from the developing regions of first [[Asia]] and subsequently [[Africa]]. Following the collapse of Communist party government in the [[Soviet Union]] and eastern [[Europe]], the Federation's membership has risen steeply from 87 million in 1988 and 100 million in 1992, as trade union federations from former [[Soviet bloc]] countries joined the ICFTU.

In 1975 former CIA agent [[Philip Agee]] revealed in his book "[[Inside the Company: CIA Diary]]" that the ICFTU was a "Labor center set up and controlled by the [[CIA]] to oppose the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU)."<ref>{{cite book |last=Agee |first=Philip |date=1975 |title= Inside the Company: CIA Diary|publisher=Farrar Straus and Giroux |page=541 |isbn=978-0883730287}}</ref>

The ICFTU was formally dissolved on 31 October 2006 when it merged with the [[World Confederation of Labour]] (WCL) to form the [[International Trade Union Confederation]] (ITUC).

==Organisation==
The ICFTU had four regional organisations.  [[ICFTU Asia and Pacific Regional Organisation|APRO]] covered Asia and the Pacific, [[ICFTU African Regional Organisation|AFRO]] in Africa, and [[ICFTU Inter American Regional Organisation of Workers|ORIT]] for the Americas. Until 1969, the [[ICFTU European Regional Organisation|ERO]] covered Europe, but it became increasingly marginal and was dissolved.  The ICFTU later maintained close links with the [[European Trade Union Confederation]] (ETUC), which included all ICFTU European affiliates).  It also worked closely with many [[Global union federation|Global Union Federations]], which link together national unions from a particular trade or industry at international level.

Central to the ICFTU's work was the struggle to defend workers' rights. The ICFTU lobbied for the ratification of the so-called "core labour standards"—eight key conventions of the [[International Labour Organization]] concerning freedom of association, the abolition of child labour and forced labour and the elimination of discrimination in the workplace.

The ICFTU has staff which are devoted entirely to the monitoring and defence of workers rights, and they issue—almost on a daily basis—alerts and calls to action. The ICFTU published its "Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights" every June, the publication of which was usually accompanied by extensive press coverage of the violations of trade union rights around the world. The report often focused on the numbers of people killed for being members of unions.

In its constitution, the organisation pledged itself to "champion the cause of human freedom, promote equality of opportunity for all people, seek to eliminate everywhere in the world any form of discrimination or subjugation based on race, religion, sex or origin, oppose and combat totalitarianism and aggression in any form".

That constitution listed no fewer than seventeen aims of the organisation and it has been argued that the ICFTU from its very beginning set itself goals that would be impossible to achieve—particularly with a small staff and budget. For example, the organisation's constitution required it "to carry out a programme of trade union and workers' education" as well as to give "assistance to those suffering from the consequences of natural and industrial disasters".

In 2004 Australian union leader [[Sharan Burrow]] was elected as the first female president of the ICFTU.

==Annual survey of violations of trade union rights==
ICFTU published an annual report which documents violations by governments, industries, and military and police forces against both workers and related trade unions.

===2006 report===
Released on 7 June 2006 the report reprised the year 2005. The press release from ICFTU OnLine reports,
"115 trade unionists were murdered for defending workers' rights in 2005, while more than 1,600 were subjected to violent assaults and some 9,000 arrested ... Nearly 10,000 workers were sacked for their trade union involvement, and almost 1,700 detained."<ref name="2006 report">{{cite web
 |title=Annual Survey of violations of trade union rights, 2006
 |work=ICFTU
 |url=http://www.icftu.org/survey2006.asp?language=EN
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060618073739/http://www.icftu.org/survey2006.asp?language=EN
 |archive-date=2006-06-18
 |access-date=2006-06-10
}}</ref>

The report is divided into five regional sections, with detailed reports by country.<ref name="2006 report"/>

====Africa====
ICFTU wrote that, "One of the most striking features of the violations that took place in Africa is the failure of governments to respect the rights of their own employees, both through the restrictions in law on organising, collective bargaining and strike action, and repression in practice." The report continues on to detail violations such as the lack of the right to organise unions in the public service in [[:Category:Trade unions in Lesotho|Lesotho]]; the police use of stun guns, rubber bullets and tear gas at workers' strikes and protests in [[South Africa]]; and the death of a [[:Category:Trade unions in Djibouti|Djibouti]] drivers' union member during a demonstration by striking minibus and lorry drivers.<ref name="2006 report"/>

====Americas====
The report of violence in the [[Americas]] details a total of 80 deaths, more than half of the number reported worldwide. 70 of those deaths were in [[Colombia]], while an additional 260 Colombian workers received death threats. In [[Ecuador]] 44 workers at the San Jose plantation were fired for forming a union. In [[Canada]] a collective agreement was imposed by law on members of the [[BCTF]].<ref name="2006 report"/>

====Asia and Pacific====
ICFTU singled out [[Bangladesh]], [[Cambodia]], [[China]], [[India]], [[South Korea]] and the [[Philippines]] as having "particularly" violent episodes. In Bangladesh three trade unionists were killed when police intervened in a Sinha Textile Mill protest. In South Korea, [[Kim Tae-hwan (trade unionist)|Kim Tae-hwan]] from the [[Federation of Korean Trade Unions]] was run over and killed while on the picket line.<ref name="2006 report"/>

In the [[Philippines]], [[Diosdado Fortuna]], leader of the [[Food and Drug Industry Union]], was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen, [[Victoria Ramonte]] of the [[Andres Soriano College Employees' Union]] was stabbed to death, and Ricardo Ramos, President of the [[Sugar Workers' Union]] was shot and killed.<ref name="2006 report"/>

====Europe====
The report on Europe begins by noting "Strong resistance to the creation of independent trade unions was a common trait across Central and Eastern Europe, both by employers and the State." Examples include an organised government attempt to coerce workers to leave independent trade unions in [[:Category:Trade unions in Moldova|Moldova]]. [[Belarus]] is highlighted as wanting to return to [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]-era trade union centres, with the ensuing close ties to the government.<ref name="2006 report"/>

The death of one trade unionist in [[Russia]] is reported. Although there are no details concerning the exact circumstances, he had previously received threats, and his house had been set on fire.<ref name="2006 report"/>

====Middle East====
In [[Iraq]], during the first two months of 2005 [[Hadi Salih]], international secretary of the [[Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions]] (IFTU) was brutally tortured and killed. [[Talib Khadim]] and [[Saady Edan]], both also from the IFTU were attacked and kidnapped. Two attempts were made on the life of the president of the IFTU's [[Kirkuk]] branch. [[Ali Hassan Abd]] of the [[Oil and Gas Workers' Union]] was shot and killed in front of his children, and [[Ahmed Adris Abas]] of the [[Transport and Communications Union]], was shot dead.<ref name="2006 report"/>

The report also details the difficulties faced by migrant workers in many countries, such as [[Kuwait]], [[Lebanon]], [[Oman]], [[Qatar]] and [[Saudi Arabia]], where they are a major portion of the labour force, but have few rights.<ref name="2006 report"/>

[[Qatar]] is singled out as a source of good news, with the country adopting a new labour code which, although still below international standards, allowed for the establishment of free trade unions.<ref name="2006 report"/>

==Leadership==
===General Secretaries===
:1949: [[Jacobus Hendrik Oldenbroek]]
:1960: [[Omer Becu]]
:1967: [[Harm Buiter]]
:1972: [[Otto Kersten (trade unionist)|Otto Kersten]]
:1982: [[John Vanderveken]]
:1992: [[Enzo Friso]]
:1995: [[William Jordan, Baron Jordan|Bill Jordan]]
:2002: [[Guy Ryder]]

===Presidents===
:1949: [[Paul Finet]]
:1951: [[Vincent Tewson]]
:1953: [[Omer Becu]]
:1957: [[Arne Geijer]]
:1965: [[Bruno Storti]]
:1972: [[Donald MacDonald (Nova Scotia politician)|Donald MacDonald]]
:1975: [[P. P. Narayanan]]
:1992: [[Roy Trotman]]
:2000: [[Fackson Shamenda]]
:2004: [[Sharan Burrow]]

==See also==
{{Portal|Organized labour}}
* [[International Trade Union Confederation]]
* [[World Confederation of Labour]]
* [[World Federation of Trade Unions]]
* [[Global union federation]]s

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*  Robert Anthony Waters and Geert van Goethem, eds. ''American Labor's Global Ambassadors: The International History of the AFL-CIO During the Cold War'' (Palgrave Macmillan; 2014)
* {{cite web |last1=Teelucksingh |first1=Jerome |author-link1= |date=10 October 2024 |location= |title=Commentary: Russia and Caribbean trade unions |url=https://www.newsday.co.tt/2024/10/10/russia-and-caribbean-trade-unions/ |url-access= |format= |website=www.newsday.co.tt |type= |others= |edition= |publication-place=Trinidad and Tobago |publisher=[[Trinidad and Tobago Newsday]] |publication-date=10 October 2024 |agency= |no-pp= |arxiv= |asin= |asin-tld= |bibcode= |bibcode-access= |biorxiv= |citeseerx= |doi= |doi-access= |doi-broken-date= |eissn= |hdl= |hdl-access= |isbn= |ismn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |jstor-access= |lccn= |medrxiv= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |ol-access= |osti= |osti-access= |pmc= |pmc-embargo-date= |pmid= |rfc= |sbn= |ssrn= |s2cid= |s2cid-access= |zbl= |id= |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-format= |archive-date= |access-date=6 January 2025 |via= |quote-page= |quote= |ref= }}

==External links==
* [https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/ead/htmldocs/KCL05010.html Guide to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions records. 5010. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.]
* [https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/ead/htmldocs/KCL05028.html Guide to International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Council for Organising Campaign in France. Reports and minutes, 1952-1953. 5028. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.]

{{ICFTU}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:International Confederation of Free Trade Unions| ]]
[[Category:Trade unions established in 1949]]
[[Category:Trade unions disestablished in 2006]]
[[Category:International and regional union federations]]