THE ASIAN-AUSTRALASIAN TRADE UNION LIAISON BUREAU (AATULB)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-00915R001000170001-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 20, 1998
• Sequence Number: 1
• Content Type: REPORT

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The Asian-Australasian Trade Union Liaison Bureau TULB)
At the Second World Congress of the WFTU held in Milan in July
1949, the Congress, in its "Resolution on the Reports Concerning Trade
Union Activity in the Countries of Asia, Australasia, Africa and Latin
America, "called upon the executive bodies of the WFTU to consider
seriously the setting up of Regional Liaison Bureaus in those parts of
the world where they may be considered necessary for the improvement
of the conditions of life of the working class and the development of
trade unions;
At the meeting of the Executive Bureau which took place in Peiping,
November 1949, one of the items on the agenda was the "Creation of
Liaison Bureaus in Asia, and Africa, Their Functions and Program of
Activity. "
The Executive Bureau passed the following resolution concerning
this item of the agenda:
"Considering that the conditions in which trade union activity is
taking place in the countries of Latin America, Asia, and Africa differ
considerably from those of Europe, and considering the difficulties in
maintaining liaison between the Executive of the WFTU and the Trade
Union Organizations of the above -mentioned countries:
"Taking into account the need to strengthen and develop this
liaison with the aim of consolidating the unity of the working class of all
countries, and of improving the exchange of experiences and information
and the practical assistance to be given to the trade unions meeting
with difficult conditions,
"The Executive Bureau of the WFTU decides:
111. To set up a WFTU Liaison Bureau with the trade unions
of Asian and Australasian countries and a WFTU Liaison
Bureau with the trade unions of African countries;
112
A
To instruct the Secretariat of the WFTU to strengthen its
organic liaison with the Bureau of the CTAL (Confederation
of Workers of Latin America), which is considered, in
accordance with the decisions of the Executive Committee
of February 1949, as the Liaison Bureau for Latin
America,-
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To instruct: the Secretariat of the WFTU to examine the
possibility of creating, in the near future, a WFTU
Liaison: Bureau with the trade unions of the Near and
Middle East;
114? The composition and methods of work of the Liaison
Bureaus may be varied in accordance with the concrete
conditions of trade union activity existing in the. groups
of countries indicated above. The Executive Bureau
will adopt, for the creation of each Liaison Bureau,
a resolution defining its composition and its method
of work,
"The Executive Bureau will also adopt the budget of each Liaison
Bureau established in collaboration with the National Trade Union. Centers
concerned."
The resolution then went on to state that the principle functions of
the Liaison Bureau shall be as follows:
"a, To assist the trade union organizations of the given
'group of countries to explain and carry out the
decisions of the Congress and the WFTU' Executive,
"b. To conduct the widest possible propaganda on the
aims and objectivies of the WFTU, and to circulate
information on its activity, To publish the WFTU
Review and all other publications,
"d
11 e.
To fight against the policy of splitting the ranks
of the working class and to popularize by all
possible means (press, pamphlets, radio, etc. )
the decisions and the general activity of the
WFTU.
To establish contacts with the Trade Union Centers
affiliated with the WFTU and with the progressive
trade union organizations which for whatever reason,
do not belong to the Federation. To recruit new
members for the WFTU.
To keep the WFTU informed on the development of
the trade union movement in the given groups of
countries.
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The representatives of the Liaison Bureau may, in agree -
ment with the Executive Bureau, take part in the meetings
and conferences both of the National Trade Union Centers
of the group of countries concerned and of the trade
unions and federations,
The Liaison Bureau will report on its activity to the
Executive Bureau of the WFTU. For this purpose it
will submit, every three months, a complete report
on its activity to the General Secretary of the WFTU.
After study of the report by the Secretariat of the WFTU,
the latter will forward the document to the members
of the Executive Bureau of (for ?) the adoption of its
conclusions.
"h, The Liaison Bureau is a working body of the 'WFTU. It
should not become a screen between the National Trade
Union Centers and the Secretariat of the WFTU and,
consequently, between the National Trade Union Centers
and the Executive Bureau and Committee. Each trade
Union Center will retain its right and duty to maintain
and to develop its direct relationship with the leading
bodies of the WFTU,
"The Executive Bureau instructs the Secretariat of the WFTU
continuously to advise the members of the Liaison Bureau in carrying out
their work; the Secretariat must give them all the necessary support for
the implementation of the rules and tasks set out in the resolution."
of
In implementation/this resolution, and taking into account the
resolution adopted by the Trade Union Conference of Asian and Australa-
sian Countries (Peiping, November 1949), the Executive Bureau of the
WFTU decided:
"i
a
To set up a Liaison Bureau for Asia the headquarters of
which, in conformity with an agreement arrived at with
the All-China Federation of Labor, will be in China and
temporarily in Peiping;
To fix the number of the members of the Liaison Bureau
for Asia at four, as follows:
-1 representative of the-All-China Federation of Labor,
-1 representative of the All-India Trade Union Congress,
-1 representative of the Soviet Trade Unions,
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latter to be nominate in agro#ment with the ae Unions
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Internationals (Trade Departments of the WFTU).
"The designation of these members shall be approved by the Executive
Bureau,'
The main responsible representative in the Liaison Bureau
will be the member designated by the All-China Federation
of Labor.
"14, This decision will come into force on. 1 January 1950,
The Secretariat of the WFTU is mandated to take all admin-
istrative and financial steps necessary for the implemen-
tation of this decision. It will present to the next meeting
of the Executive Bureau a report, on its activity in this
connection, "
There is no concrete evidence that the African and the Near and Middle
East Liaison Bureaus ever-actually came into existence. The Al4LTULB, how-
ever, did actually start functioning in about mid-1950, with headquarters in
Peiping, LIU Ning-I, Vice President of the All-China Federation, of Trade
Unions and a Vice President of the WFTU, appears to have been. the principal
Chinese representative, while Ernest THORNTON, who arrived in Peiping
in Peiping in the summer of 1950, was the Australian representative. The
names of the Russian and Indian representatives to the Bureau at that time are
not known to us. In November 1952, however, it was reported that KUZMENKO
fnu. , was the Russian representative. He was further identified as the
"Propaganda Chief" of the Liaison Bureau,
While the original :Executive Bureau decision stated that the Bureau
would be composed of representatives from India, China, USSR and Australia,
representatives from Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia, have also been reported
at various times to be working in the Bureau.
As of June 1954? CHEN Yu (China), was the Secretary General of
the AATULB,'
During the five years of its existence, the AATULB has given very
little reason to believe that it has been. able to adequately fulfill the tasks
originally assigned to it by the Executive Bureau. While it has engaged
in the distribution of propaganda material on. a limited scale, it has been
only infrequently in touch with the trade union centers of the various Asian
countries. Neither does it appear to have accomplished much in the way
of assisting trade union organizations in the Asian countries to carry out
decisions of the WFTUexecutive bodies.
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The WFTU, however, apparently still considers liaison bureaus to
be important. At the III Congress of the WFTU held in October 1,953,
the resolution on the third item of the agenda, "The Development of the
Trade Union Movement in the Colonial and Semi-Colonial Countries,"
included the following statement:
"The Congress recommends the executive bodies of the World
Federation of Trade Unions and the Trade Unions Internationals (Trade
Departments of the WFTU):
To expand their assistance to the trade union movement in the
colonial and semi-colonial countries;
To holj the trade union organizations in the countries to convene
regional trade union conferences;
To ensure the development of the work of the Liaison B.reaus of
the World Federation of Trade Unions."
We do not know at the present time what concrete steps have been
taken by the WFTU to implement this resolution of the Congress. How-
ever, on 9 December 1954, the Soviet trade union publication, Trud, re-
ported that "as a result of the expansion of the WFTU's relations with
the trade unions of Asiatic countries, the Executive Committee elected
two representatives (from Japan and Indonesia) to the WFTU1s Bureau
for liaison with Asiatic countries. " The names of the two representatives
elected were not revealed.
We have received no information which would lead us to believe
that the AA.TULB is to be replaced by another organization. It is possible
that the unconfirmed reports to this effect have their origin in the
attempts by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions to establish an
Asian Trade Union Congress, at which the various Asian trade union
organizations would be represented.
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