World Trade Union Federation

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25767, 31 March 1949, Page 4

World Trade Union Federation

The British, American, and Dutch trade union leaders who took their organisations out of the World Federation of Trade Unions in January have now asked other national trade union movements to do the same. Their appeal, reported this week, is made because they know that the W.F.T.U. is no longer a genuine international federation of free trade unions and has proved useless as a bridge between the trade union movements of Communist-domin-ated and democratic countries. They left the W.F.T.U; because the Soviet trade unions used it for Communist propaganda, and through a Com-munist-dominated executive were turning it into another platform for Soviet policy. The final break was on trade union co-operation in the European Recovery Programme. Britain, the United States, and the Benelux countries wanted co-opera-tion. The Soviet and its satellite countries opposed it, and the W.F.T.U. executive continually decayed discussion of the programme. Although three western members have resigned and may be followed by the Scandinavian and the Benelux countries, the W.F.T.U. has announced that it intends to carry on. It still has a major part of its original membership of 70,000,000 and retains not only the trade union centres of Russia and her satellites but also the largest bodies in France and Italy and smaller Communistdominated organisations in many parts of the world. It may be expected to redouble its propaganda everywhere, still opposing ' the European Recovery Programme. The field will be open unless there is an alternative western trade union organisation to oppose it. As “ The Times ” says, there is need now for a new international body of free trade unions to contest world leadership of the workers. Such a body would have to counter Communist propaganda; but its most effective answer would be to work to improve the organisation and standards of workers in all parts of the world, something the W.F.T.U. has failed to do. No doubt the western leaders hope to form this new body with the help of trade union centres which break away from the W.F.T.U. *Their main difficulty is likely to be the present division in the American labour movement. The Federation of Labour has persistently remained outside the W.F.T.U. and done its utmost to kill it, while the Congress of Industrial Organisations has been prominent in its counsels and would probably want to be as prominent in any new trade . union international. The arrival of British Trades Union Congress leaders in the United States for talks with C. 1.0. and A.F.L. leaders suggests that an attempt -will be made to bring the two organisations together, and establish a new body which will need their strength.