ITUC or WFTU: WFTU or ITUC
The Global Federations: Competing Ideologies
WFTU was founded in Paris in October 1945. After the defeat of fascism WFTU aimed to bring together trade unions across the world into a single biggest international organization. It was formed by 272 delegates representing 67 million workers from 55 countries. The delegates represented the British TUC, the American CIO, the French CGT, the Italian CGIL, the Eastern European trade unions and many other national trade unions from Asia, Latin America and Africa including Northern Rhodesia, Gold Coast and Gabon.
It stood for an enduring peace and progress. The declaration was unifying, universal, democratic and class orientated in character. The Resolution on ‘People’s Right to Self-determination’ clearly put forward the demand of national independence. It not only declared its support to liberate colonial peoples, but also to unite organized workers globally, to struggle for better living conditions and to fight battles against the exploiting monopolies and warmongers.
The onset of the Cold War led the non-communist aligned unions, dominated by the American CIO, to split WFTU in 1948 for ideological reasons. In the short years of its existence WFTU had emerged as a threat to the imperial interests of Britain and the US. The British and US union leaders, sponsored by their governments, had proposed to cease WFTU activities. When their efforts failed they walked out. WFTU responded by drafting an open letter appealing to activists in the US and Britain urging them to find a way to reach agreements around common aims.
The ICFTU was launched in November 1949. From its inception it was unbendingly ‘anti-communist’ and over time set out to discredit demands for national autonomy wanting to open up economic markets to US domination. In the early 1960s the ICFTU went further to criticize Castro arguing that Cuba had imposed a totalitarian regime on its people. Today there are encouraging signs in the US and Europe with many ICFTU affiliates, urged on by rank and file activists and solidarity networks, to condemn their governments for going to war and maintaining the blockade against Cuba.
After the collapse of the Berlin Wall the ICFTU refused to cooperate with WFTU claiming they “glorified an economically bankrupt system”. In hindsight, with the global economic crisis emerging from the heart of the ‘free market’ system, this ‘principled’ stance was ironic and short sighted. The ICFTU was also suggesting that trade unions should stay out of politics, and that ‘freedom and democracy are synonymous with social and economic progress’.
In 1965, Kwame Nkrumah characterized the split as issues over anti-colonialist liberation struggles in “Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism”. He recognized that the activities of the ICFTU, led by the British Trade Union Congress (TUC), could only gratify the big international monopolies which were extracting super profits from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Nkrumah noted that by 1959 the AFL-CIO had wrested control of the ICFTU and began to finance and bribe labour leaders in the developing world leading to the rank-and-file African worker beginning to link the ICFTU with the CIA. The AFL-CIO brains trust then set up the African American Labour Centre (AALC), and according to Nkrumah could anything be plainer as to real reasons for setting up AALC when in their April 1965 Bulletin they state; “it will also encourage labour-management cooperation to expand American capital investment in the African nations (Nkrumah’s italics).”
Despite the 1949 split WFTU retained its universal character bringing together trade unions of all races, religions and gender representing diverse political opinions. The East European state dominated trade unions came to control WFTU, with other affiliates coming from countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa. The significant Western European Unions that remained in the WFTU were the French CGT and the Italian CGIL.
The WFTU’s constitution provided for the formation of autonomous industry-wide structures known as Trade Union Internationals (TUIs). These industry and sector based internationals were wide-ranging covering the public, telecommunications, health, financial and municipal industries or sectors.
The current differences in the ITUC and WFTU cannot be separated from this legacy.
WFtU: Responding to Global events
The collapse of the Soviet system in Russia and Eastern Europe reinforced the ‘free-market system’ and as neo-liberalism gained ascendency the working class was forced into a retreat globally. Under the appearance of globalization and the ‘end of history’ working class families and ordinary people universally experienced attacks on jobs, health care, education, housing, public services and social benefits. This did not lead workers’ to embrace capitalism wholesale, but increased people’s hardships in the East and West.
Of immediate consequence was WFTU losing influence in Eastern Europe and the ICFTU making inroads into what was previously WFTU terrain. Many African unions began to gravitate towards the ICFTU and its affiliates, because of financial assistance and donor funding. These relationships were often reduced to patron client relations. In spite of these gains the ICFTU derived few tangible results in advancing the universal struggles of workers.
WFTU underwent a radical re-evaluation and restructuring and accepted their new role of trade unionism in a globalized ‘free-market economy’. They argued for ‘free’ trade unions independent of political parties. Following the loss of Eastern European affiliates in the late 1980s there was a serious drop in income leading to expenditure cuts and declining staffing levels.
Nonetheless, the Federation persevered through the difficult period of capitalist triumphalism and reactionary ascendancy, and moved its headquarters from Prague in Czech Republic to Athens in Greece.
WFTU began a steady determined ascendancy back to relevance holding out the prospect for a new internationalism with a human face and progressive social content.
WFTU began to gain greater significance in the developing countries of the South. Structures were established in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, but the future of the industry/sector based TUIs was less certain.
the WFtU: opening new paths
Despite the self-recognition of omissions and mistakes in the last 60 years WFTU can proudly claim that they have never been and never will be neutral in class struggle. WFTU believes that there is great potential for the development of united trade union and working class action in Europe and globally. WFTU is ready to cooperate and act along with other international trade union organizations independent of existing and ideological differences for the promotion of the international working class struggles.
WFTU has voiced their concern that the ILO is setting obstacles in the path of peace and progress by failing to present an objective and neutral report on Israeli aggression and occupation of Palestine. WFTU has an active presence in the ILO, but because they suffer unequal status in the forum they have been consistently demanding proportional representation to eliminate the monopoly of the ITUC.
Under the principle of internationalism WFTU would like to see an independent UN, which is seen by WFTU and its affiliates as legalizing and legitimizing the aggressive acts of the US, Britain and its allies. It also seeks to free the ILO from US domination in the same way they seek to free the International Trade Union organizations and federations from the crippling influence of capital.
On the question of solidarity WFTU reiterates the need for ‘solidarity to nations who receive threats and attacks from the US and its allies’, arguing that every nation has the right to choose its own path of self development without the imposed structural adjustments programs of the IMF and WB. WFTU has responded to the demands of working class unity by adopting a “new course” tracing a new modern militant path. WFTU believes in striving through militant struggle for another world that is free of exploitation and without wars and poverty.
WFTU continues to organize trade union meetings in every continent. It is in the process of establishing regional office in Africa and Eastern Europe, and is in the process of establishing TUIs in Tourism, Trades, Hotels, Metals, Transport and Local Authorities. Any trade union organization may join WFTU TUIs regardless of its structure or composition, or whether it belongs to a national or international centre such as ITUC. All member unions have equal rights and duties within the TUIs.
WFTU’s “Lisbon Declaration” in December 2008 declared to unite the international working class regardless of color, religion and sex in organized struggles starting in the workplaces. WFTU launched a call to all trade unions, regardless of affiliations, to coordinate a working class fight-back from the shop-floor against capitalism and imperialism at the global level. It concluded that under the current conditions there exists the need for planned struggles for reforms and for socialism that ends the exploitation of man by man and therefore WFTU extends a call for all progressive forces at the levels of organized labour – at the social and political levels – to tell the workers the truth and to open new paths.
the 16th congress of WFtU
The 16th Congress of WFTU was held in Greece in April 2011. It began with a 4 000 strong demonstration led by PAME, the All Greek Workers Militant Front founded in 1999 against the austerity measures demanded by the unelected Troika – the IMF, EU and the European Central Bank. The 16th Congress was permeated by the militant tone, energy and enthusiasm that the PAME was able to bring.
The congress was attended by 881 delegates from 104 countries representing 80 million workers from 200 labour organizations world-wide. Of note over 180 delegates attended from Central and South America including representatives from the Cuban labour movement. Leaders of major organizations from Africa (OATUU) and the Arab countries (ICATU) presented statements supporting the new militant path. COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions) had a strong presence represented by the COSATU international relations officer, NEHAWU, NUMSA and CEPPWAWU delegates.
WFTU credited organizations throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa and South America for their material support during the difficult years with a special recognition going to PAME for their contributions of funding and personnel.
WFTU has consolidated and grown over the last six years with 89 new affiliated organizations. It has established new, and revitalized, regional and sector based TUIs. It has established links with nearly every national and regional federation where class struggle is on the agenda. The WFTU has put its internationalism into practice initiating international solidarity campaigns with struggles throughout the world including the struggle to free the Cuban five, for a free Palestine, a democratic Swaziland, for the fight-back against austerity measures in Europe and for the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US.
WFTU had assembled to assess its work after declaring itself as against capital and imperialism, and to plan for future struggles “against capitalist barbarism, for social justice and a world without exploitation”.
The opening address by General-Secretary George Mavrikos noted that the congress took place at a crucial period, a period with two basic characteristics. One, the deep crisis of the capitalist system and the attacks on workers leading to millions of lost jobs, misery, poverty and migration, and two, the growing aggressiveness of imperialism by military means and interventions by the UN and NATO.
The congress noted that the crisis of capitalism offers a unique opportunity for organized labour to push back against the defeats over the last 20 years and shift the balance of power into our favor. It recognized that the ruling class is divided on solutions to the crisis and spiraling debt. It acknowledged that certain trade union leaders in the advanced capitalist countries continue to hold back a determined fight-back using strikes and demonstrations against austerity measures intended to make the working class pay for a crisis not of their own making. The congress heard arguments that there is no other alternative other than the strategy of rupture and the overthrow of capitalism.
The prospect for growth and influence of WFTU is limitless, but for its worst excesses of seeing the inevitable hand of imperialism in genuine popular uprising. COSATU needs to increase its relevance, and take the responsibility to bring a more nuanced understanding into WFTU of the role of imperialism and regional powers in seeking to highjack the genuine popular uprising by the masses. This is a task to be approached with great care and sensitivity, but also with clear-sighted determination.
The role of the bureaucratic and class collaborationist leaders of the ITUC affiliates in Europe and the US are a serious impediment to linking up popular uprisings with workplace based struggles against austerity onto an open new militant path of internationalism. COSATU has tried to influence the ITUC to a more left orientation with little success, but the successes working directly with the affiliates and in the International Trade Secretariats such as the Public Service International (PSI) must be acknowledged.
Delegates to the 16th Congress of WFTU emerged re-energised after meeting like minded delegates from the developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and delegates from the developed countries wanting to strike back against austerity measures. The COSATU delegates, many of whom played a leading role in the struggle for national liberation and continue the struggle for socialism, were enthusiastic about returning to their natural home in WFTU. Invigorated by the militant atmosphere they pledged their solidarity to all the people striking back against capitalism under the banner of WFTU.
the Road Ahead: WFtU is the obvious choice
Capitalism is in a deep protracted crisis. Today we are seeing a more intense, yet uneven, fight-back by the global majority against the 1% – the beneficiaries of a system that produces poverty, unemployment, attacks on services and conditions of employment and growing inequality. We have seen governments collapse and dictators overthrown. We have seen the decline in US economic domination forcing them to rely more heavily on military interventions to shore up their global interests. We have seen a change in fortunes for the neo-liberal ideologues yet their leaders continue to abuse power to wreck havoc on the working masses, the poor and the environment.
Global capitalism is being challenged and for the first time in decades people are beginning to pose the urgent necessity for real and lasting alternatives to a system that puts profits before people. Mass movements have emerged demanding social justice, democracy, accountability and human rights, but it is also important to recognize that the deepening crisis does not automatically translate into working class resistance as trade union leaders attempt to co-manage the crisis claiming that we are all in it together. This poses the real threat of holding back the militant activity of workers.
This is why it is most important for progressive and transformative trade unions to give solidarity to the struggles of workers, new social movements and left wing formations, and to strengthen and support WFTU which openly supports militant workplace struggles.
We cannot afford to be neutral when the Cuban and Palestinian struggles for self-determination are threatened by US imperialism and their influential international forums such as the UN, ILO, WTO, WB and IMF.
Today militant, transformative and political trade unions are presented with unique opportunities that must be grasped if we are to escape further human degradation and the despair of future generations. Socialism is not only the future, but also the brake to stop the misery of run-away capitalism.
In his closing remarks the General Secretary noted that; “Today we are stronger and we shall move with greater determination. We must fight against whatever weaknesses we have. You should know that we are aware that we have not done anything great, but our duty. That is the way we have been educated since we were young, and in the same way we are going to continue our work. We are working class soldiers of the working class movement in the war of bringing down the system of exploitation”.
WFTU’s resolve to pursue a militant class based struggle against capital and campaign for a free Palestine is in contradistinction to ITUC, and the many trade union leaders embedded in the ITUC, who continue to collaborate with the ruling class in implementing anti-working class austerity measures, attack Cuba and defend Israeli aggression.
More than ever before, we need to identify spaces and opportunities to build an effective, dynamic and responsive global trade union movement bringing together worker activists and other progressive forces through strikes and demonstrations.
WFTU and its affiliates provide a vision of new militant path that together we need to forge.
Based on material provided by NEHAWU International Bulletin.
World Federation of Trade Unions - North 
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