World_Trade_Union_Conference

World Trade Union Conference

World Trade Union Conference

1945 gathering of trade unions

The World Trade Union Conference between 6–17 February 1945 was participated in by countries from all around the world, at County Hall, London.[1] Regarded as a significant moment within the international labour movement as it was the first time that workers from around the world came together to influence international politics.[2][dubious – discuss] It was a product of the wave of popular internationalism and union self-confidence following the defeat of fascism in World War II.[3]

Both Clement Attlee and King George VI spoke to the audience at the conference.[1] 204 representatives from 63 Unions around the world attended the conference including those from the Soviet Union, in an attempt to have representation within the United Nations and Security Council.[4] The conference, which was organised in the vein of the anti-fascist movement being much inspired by both union and state notions of a new world order plus influenced by the interests of the allied nations.[3][1] Anti-war, post war reconstruction post-war and Trade Union were on the agenda.[5]

The conference resulted in the Declarations of the World Trade Union Conference, which were published in San Francisco by the Trade Union Council in 1945[6] and inspired the Fifth Pan-African Congress to beheld later the same year in Manchester.[2]

One of the purposes of the conference was to create a draft constitution for the World Federation of Trade Unions which was established at the first World Trades Union Congress which convened in Paris in October 1945.[5][7]

Attendees

The committee consisted of 45 voting members and one non-voting member while many other notable figures participated. [1][8][5]

Asia

Africa

Europe

North America

Oceania

South America

  • Columbia: Bernardo Medina
  • Uruguay: Luis Gonzalez

Unknown: B. Goodwin, B. Locker,[14] J.H. Oldenbrock and V.L. Toledano[15]

References

  1. [1]
    University, London Metropolitan. "The Worker's War: Home Front Recalled". www.unionhistory.info. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  2. [2]
    Adi, Hakim; Sherwood, Marika (1995). The 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress Revisited. New Beacon Books. ISBN 978-1-873201-12-1.
  3. [3]
    "World Federation of Trade Unions | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  4. [4]
    "Albert Gates: The World Trade Union Conference (May 1945)". www.marxists.org. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  5. [5]
    "Labor Organizations". Monthly Labor Review. 60 (5): 1030–1034. 1945. ISSN 0098-1818. JSTOR 41817831.
  6. [6]
    Tombs, Isabelle (April 1998). "The British TUC between Germany and Russia: From the Outbreak of War to the World Trade Union Conference of February 1945". European History Quarterly. 28 (2): 219–243. doi:10.1177/026569149802800203. ISSN 0265-6914.
  7. [7]
    "WFTU » History". Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  8. [8]
    "Wayback Machine" (PDF). 2007-02-21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-02-21. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  9. [9]
    "Gambian trade union official Ibrahima Momodou Garba-Jahumpa ,..." Getty Images. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  10. [10]
    "French Trade Unionist J Brodier at the World Trade Union Conference..." Getty Images. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  11. [11]
    Netherlands News. Netherlands Information Bureau. 1945.
  12. [12]
    "Members of the committee of the World Trade Union Conference during a..." Getty Images. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  13. [13]
    "Jamaican People's National Party politician and trade union leader,..." Getty Images. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  14. [14]
    "B Locker of Histradut, the General Federation of Jewish Labour, at..." Getty Images. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  15. [15]
    "Germans in Argentina » 16 Feb 1945 » The Spectator Archive". The Spectator Archive. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
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