' A SHIFT IN THE EUROPEAN TRADE UNION MOVEMENT,' LEIF HOVELSEN, OSLO, MORGENBLADET, 22 - 30 APRIL 1974.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79-01194A000100640001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 18
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 6, 1998
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: June 13, 1974
• Content Type: REPORT

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 CPYRGHT
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SHIFT IN THE EUROPEAN TRADE UNION tNOVEMENT
Oslo NORGENBLADET in Norwegian 22, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30 Apr 74
Background of International Union Movements
[Article series by Leif Hovelsen, 22 April 1974]
[Text There are disturbing signs that the western union movement will
abandon its democratic basis and go along with the Soviet-inspired
program for East-West cooperation. Developments have occurred here
that are little known outside -- among other things the entry the So-
viet viewpoints have gained in the Norwegian trade union movement. In
order to get a complete view of this picture we have asked Leif Hovelsen
who is an expert in this field to explain these developments. Here is
the first of six articles on this subject.
It was an important day for Europe, 19 January 1974. Whether
that day will turn out to bode well or ill for the future is something
history will be able to determine some day. It happened in connection
with the second European regional conference of the International Labor
Organization (ILO) in Geneva on 14-24 January. The meeting place was
the Palais des Nations, Room XII, the first official summit meeting of
trade union leaders from East and West since 1945.. They were all there,
the leaders of the national trade union federations in western and
eastern Europe, the leaders of a good 150 million union-organized
workers'.
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"It is 25 years since we talked advantageously together," said a
Scandinavian participant. "It is phenomenal and it is hard to grasp
the fact that this top-level meeting has occurred."
To understand the significance of what occurred in Geneva on 19
January let us look back at the tension-filled years of the postwar
period and follow the develop:.,en t of the international and European
trade union nover:nents.
In 1945 the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) was formed.
This occurred on the initiative of the Soviet Union, supported by the
English and American trade union movements. The headquarters was in
Paris. It soon became clear that the goals of those taking the initia-
tive had not been solely those of promoting union interests. A con-
scious communist infiltration began to be noticeable. Conditions also
intensified internationally. The communist power takeover in Czecho-
slovakia and the thrust of the 1?iarshall Plan in Europe led in 1949 to
a splitting of the international trade union movement. It divided
into three groups.
The w ru continued under The dominance of the Soviet Union,
still using Paris as its headquarters. Besides the union federations
of eastern Europe, that of the French Communists (the CGT) and the
--Italian communist-ruled union organization (CGIL) remained in the World
Federation of Trade Unions -- hereafter referred to as the Communist
Union International.
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and 11 ` ~ 1~)
and formed the International Con edera ion o Free ra e nions
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with headquarters in Brussels.
The Christian trade union movements in the West formed their
own international organization, also with Brussels as its headquarters.
The contact was broken between West and East. The international
union movement followed the pattern of international politics and the
"cold war."
In 1951 the Communist Union International had to give up its
Paris office. The French government regarded its activity as hostile
to the state and the headquarters was moved to Vienna, a city still
occupied by the big four powers. Today the Communist Union Interna-
tional is directed from Prague. It has a membership of 140 million,
of which the Soviet Union makes up about 100 million.
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)
came to have great importance for the reconstruction of western Europe
and for the development of the trade union movement in the third world.
From the very beginning the ICFTU had a strong anti-communist motiva-
tion, perhaps somewhat stamped by the noted figure of the American
union organization (AFL-CIO), George Neany. In 1969 however the Ameri-
can labor organization withdrew from the 1CFTU -- which today has a
membership of close to 50 million people.
The Christian international union organization gradually aban-
doned any narrow ideological basis, dropped the word "Christian," and
since 1968 has been called the World Confederation of Labor (WCL). It
plays quite an important role today in the third world, especially in
South America. It has around 15 million members.
One could-first- mark the tendency toward contact between. the
international union movements in the mid-Sixties. The conditions
mainly responsible for the desire to mah-e closer contact were the poli-,
cy of relaxation of tension between East and West, the necessity of co2
operation on a union level within the European Community, and the rapid!
development of the multinational companies.
TliC CVwlliUuiii.:i L Vlldun International Depan the camnai rrn t'or contact with the West. This was a matter of following up the Krem-
lin's policy of relaxation of tension on the union level. The first
results came in 1965. The- a delegation of West German national union
representatives went to Czechoslovakia. They introduced a now phase of!,
bilateral contacts. The Ger.~an trade union paper ARBEIDETS VERDEN
described this "opening up to the East" as an event "making an end to
the Ice Age."
To be sure the Communist Union International as a branch of
the Kremlin's policy of relaxing world tensions has made attempts to
bring about cooperation on the international level, but these tactical
onslaughts have found no echo in Brussels. In July 1973 the ICFTU
cl_arif d_itspon.iti.on__.once again.- -It_atated that no contacts would
be made with trade associations whose policy is diametrically opposed
to the goals pursued by the free and democratic trade unions -- a clear
statement from the center in Brussels to the center in Prague.
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It is different on the national level. Here the leadership in
Brussels has given its various national labor organization members a
free hand to seek bilateral contact. Thus it is that the same labor
leaders who favor a limitation on the international level are encour-
aged to make contacts with the East on the national level. This may
seem inconsistent. The idea is probably that it is all right on a
bilateral level to make an attempt at a pragmatic approach, but as
soon as one meets on the international level, it is impossible to avoid
discussing the more deepseated ideological questions -- which basically
are the real problems in the relationship between the free democratic
trade union movement in the West and the communist trade union movement
in the East. To believe that in the long run a confrontation can be
avoided here is unrealistic. One thing is clear -- the basic problem
itself will not be solved simply by displacing it.
While the ICFTU and the MC.L pursue their :,goals through a prag-
matic attitude toward conditions, the Communist Union International has
a very different motivation for its action program. Here a tactical and
long-range strategic attitude toward international questions plays a
much greater role. If one studies the documents from the 8th congress
held by the Communist Union International in Warna, Bulgaria, on 15-22
October 1973, one will find that the congress was mainly concerned with
the situation in-the "capitalist countries" and in the third world,
despite the fact that 90 percent of the members in the organization be-
long to the communist nations! And if one follows the policy it has pur-
sued during the last 5 years, one finds a close connection between the
relaxation of tension policy pursued b'. the Kremlin and the campaign of
closer contacts the Communist Union International has gone in for.
Furthermore one can follow a long-range plan that seems to be
worked out according to a tactical move in three stages: 1. To de-
velop bilateral contacts with the objective of achieving unity of
action between communist and non-communist trade unions. (This stage
has already been achieved.) 2. To prepare through the bilateral con-
tacts multilateral contacts on the continental level. (During the last
4 years the Communist Union International in consequence has urged multi-
lateral conferences of national union leaders on the European, South
American, and Asian continents.) 3. These multilateral conferences on
the continental level would then lead to closer international contacts
which would form the basis for a united world union movement -- with the
establishment of an international union secretariat or a co-ordination
committee as the first stage.
It is not unlikely that such an international union secretariat
could be set up in the course of a few years and that the Soviet Union
even now intends to exert its dominance there. At any rate Moscow does
not conceal the fact that in the long run these contacts will serve the
purpose of promoting Marxist-Leninist principles. (ARBEIDERKLASSEN OG
NATIDEN, No 3, p 91, Moscow 1972)
St7P1 Pp i n 1+.nr i:S SpnrP.t.? y vii f- 11 fir anrTi nnvi nn TTni nn T.n~~f~sa
[23 April 1974, p 3]
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ring the congress o t e Communist Union International
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last October in Warna, the top leader of the Soviet national labor
federation, A. D.Shelepin, made a program speech. He referred to the
improved contacts with the World Confederation of Labor and individual
members of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and
then offered active collaboration on the following basis to these in-
ternational union organizations: 1. A mutual fight for peace and dis-
armament and for economic, technical-scientific, and cultural coopera-
tion. 2. A mutual fight against multinational corporations. 3. A
common fight to utilize scientific and technical advances to serve the
interests of the workers and a mutual effort to improve environmental
protection, primarily the environment of the workers. (PRAVDA, No 244,
17 October 1973)'
Shelepin then went more closely into the various points and was
especially concrete on the question of environmental protection. Here
he said among other things: "To an increasing extent the entire world
of the working class is affected by the issue of environmental protec-
tion. P.Rr~e i a 1 I v when it noneernn ractnrv surroundings. we propose in
the name of the(Warna) congress to send all the unions in the world an
appeal to unite our efforts in protecting our environment and job sur-
roundings, to hold mutual seminars and 'symposiums,' and to exchange our
experiences on a regular basis. It would be useful to summon a world
trade union congress to discuss environmental protection problems. At
the same time this could be an important contribution toward devel-
oping cooperation between trade unions of all countries in this area."
In the program speechShelepin appealed repeatedly to the ICFTU
and the WCL for closer cooperation. He also stated that the Communist
Union International would go in for the establishment of a united world
union movement, that they will hold conferences on the continental
level in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, and that they will go
in for setting up an international trade union secretariat. (TRUD,
No 244, 17 October 1973)
I will not deal here with whether the international union movements
could achieve a cooperation like the one envisioned byShelepin or with
the extent to which such a cooperation in the long run would serve and
promote the interests of free Europe, but one thing is certain -- the
question of cooperation between East and West will be determined to an
important extent by future developments in the European union movement.
Here new tendencies are brewing that it is both important and necessary
to keep up with.
The development of the European Community, the rapid growth of
multinational corporations, and the increasing importance of environ-
mental protection and resources in today's industrial society all chal-
lenge the union movement to coordinate and synchronize its forces. This
has led among other things to the formation of independent European
union organizations out of the international union groups.
In 1958 the members of the ICFTU belonging to the European Com-
munity formed a European trade union secretariat. This gradually
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developed into a permanent organization which in 1969 became the Euro-
pean Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ECFTU).
At about the same time the European members of the WCL.joined to-
gether in a European Organization (EO).
The Communist Union International has had a lively interest in
these formations inside the West European union movement. It did not
want to remain outside what was happening. In 1965, therefore, the two
West European members of the Communist Union International opened a sec-
retariat in Brussels. A move not without interest, since both the French
communist labor organization (CGT) with 2.2 million members and the Ital-
ian Communist-led labor organization (CGIL) with,3.5 million members
d p=.-'_.= 1y opp?'ood the TM,..rop'aY r-'^m':nitJ as a 11r7ri,r- nr f -n ' in
the cold war" and as the "alliance of they monopolies." V
Finally the ECFTU and the European labor organizations in the
European Free Trade Area (EFTA) went together to form the European Trade
Union Coalition (ETUC). This occurred on 28 February 1973.
With 17 national labor organizations and a membership of almost
28.5 million the ETUC intends among other things to coordinate and
guard employee interests with respect to European institutions and pur-
sue a joint policy toward the multinational corporations.
When ETUC first saw the light of day on 28 February 1973 people
expected that this "newborn child" of ECFTU and EFTA -- both having the
ICFTU as midwife -- would also be baptized the European Free Trade Union
Association. But this did not happen. A bare majority supported
dropping the word "free." A strange thing to those of us outside.
In light of the period's policy of relaxation and an eastern
Europe which secretly feels more tied to the West than desirous of being
tied to their powerful neighbor to the East, was the majority aiming at
getting eastern European national labor organizations with them in prag-
matic cooperation on common European problems and tasks? Did they have
a vision of an all-European trade union in which eastern Europe would
eventually be tied more closely to the West? Or did the majority :?rioh
to tempt the strong communist labor organizations in France and Italy?
Whichever motives got the majority to drop the previously so noticeable
"free" -- and whether that was a wise decision or a serious mistake --
will not be discussed here. Nor what consequences it may have for west-
ern Europe, I wish only to show that the line marked so strongly by the
ICFTU has been broken and the door is now open to the possibility of
developing an all-European union :movement.
Because of the policy of relaxing tensions between East and West
and a Europe closely interconnected in a common future for good or for
ill, the international. and European union movements are in motion. Old
ways are being -abandoned, new ways are opening up -- with opportunities
for both East and West. Which forces then will be the guiding and domi-
nant ones in the years to come? Time will tell which men in the West will distinguish themselves asthe notable leaders of the European tradi-
tion. In the East one man in particular has helped shape the new de-
velopment, the chairman of the Soviet national labor federation, A. N.
Shelepin. He is also-a member of the Politburo and the central council
authorities.
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With great cleverness Shelepin has advanced the Kremlin's policy
of relaxation of tension and coexistence on the international union
level. As early as 1970 he promoted through "Polish feelers" the idea
.of an all-Europe union conference along the lines of the European securi
.y eVila Gl Gi1V C, Vu4 dLL L11LLL LiL14 bLC idtia did 1.1vt 1411 Vii J:Vady b'V11 on
the part of western national labor organization leaders. The next move
came during the Finnish national labor organization congress held in
Helsingfors at the end of June 1971. ThereShelepin went in strongly fork
the idea of an all-Europe trade union conference and hinted to western
union leaders at the congress that Soviet Russia had revised its ideas
about such a conference and was open to changes in its previous views.
This apparently paved the way for a minimum goal of contact between the
communist and non-communist national labor organization leaders and the
idea of holding an all-Europe union conference in one form or another
took root. Some people threw out the idea that such a conference should)
be held within the ILO framework. The ICFTU which formerly had clearly
opposed such meetings saw a possibility there. With the ILO as patron
of such a meeting there would be a certain guarantee that negotiations
could be limited to purely union matters while at the same time there
would not be any direct confrontation between the two union interna-
tionals in Brussels and Prague.
The proposal gained new strength when the general director of ILO'
Wilfred Jenks, visited Moscow in July 1972. In talking with him, Shelepin
stressed very emphatically that such a conference as the one under dis-
cussion would be an invaluable support for the European security confer-!
ence and for a constructive development in Europe..
During 1973 Shelepinhad thorough conversations with German and
English national labor organization leaders. In particular the chairman'
of the West German labor federation, Oscar Vetter, has supported an all-
Europe conference -- the union movements in West and East Vetter claims
must "support the process of relaxation of tensions which the government
is pursuing." And it was Vetter too who presentedShelepin's idea when
.ETUC was formed along with his wish that the eastern European national
labor organizations could also be part of the newly-formed trade union
movement. A statement which incidentally was retracted a few days later',
in the Soviet union newspaper TRUD -- probably for tactical reasons.
Scandinavia has also been part Of the picture. On 29-30 Septem-
ber 1973Shelepin held a secret meeting with Scandinavian national labor
organization leaders in Obnas, a town in the outskirts of Helsingfors.
In October 1973 Shelepin also took the initiative in a similar meeting inj
Vienna. Here national union leaders from the Soviet Union, Hungary,
East Germany, England, West Germany, and Sweden worked out a joint state-~
went about the desirability of holding an all-Europe meeting of nationally
labor organization leaders during the ILO 2nd European regional confer-
ence in Geneva during January 1974.
In other words the purpose of these secret meetings in Obnas and
Vienna was to plumb the possibilities for a cooperation between eastern
and western union organizations and' to lay the foundation for the top-
it.vc i ILCCL111y~ t+ at n :ld ta!_c pit-- in rnnnontlon w7.tnine 1LO'b 2"d
European regional conference in Geneva.
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CPYRGHT
- Hectic Atmosphere Surrounds Top-Level Meeting
[24 April 1.974]
the Palais des Nations in Geneva, this traditional conference center o
closely tied to Europe's eventful history during the last 60 years. n
connection with the 2nd European regional conference of the ILO, whit
has been assembled for a week, this Saturday is dedicated to a certain
group of men. That something important is about to happen is evidenc d
by the gathering of press, radio, and TV reporters who have suddenly
turned up. Even two Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation journalists a 3e
in position.
We sit in the coffee bar and discuss the day's topic -- the to -
level meeting of national union organization leaders from western and
eastern Europe. Prominent leaders of 35 Social Democratic, Christian
and Communist labor organizations and three union internationals have
set a meeting for the first time since 1948. Then the international
union movement split into three parts, following in the traces of the
cold war.
So this first official meeting in 25 years, with 200 delegates
from East and West, is an event both television and press reporters
in the West and in the East have come to cover. But it won't be easy.
The meeting is to be held behind closed doors, to be more precise behind
the big double doors of Room XII. So the newsthirsty men of the pres
have the entire 200-meter long hall leading up to Room XII as their
open hunting ground.
The coffee bar iz, a kind of '!seismograph" that-registers every
thing that happens, even the "smallest tremor" can be read in the exp es-
sive or expressionless faces behind a cup of coffee, a glass of whisk 2',
or a transparent cloud of tobacco smoke. Here top policies are pursued,
here all kinds of agreements are made -- in brief, here is where the
action is.
It is difficult to describe the atmosphere before this importa t
meeting -- a somewhat uncertain expectation, perhaps. Or a certain
degree of selfconsciousness toward each other resembling that before he
big dance, the first reluctant steps out onto the mirror-smooth parqu t,
firmly determined not to step on each other's toes!
V11V1 U, t1G411115 LLGLla
clothes, with an odd smile and coal-black eyes that are difficult to
penetrate -- former Komsomol leader and KGB chief, Alexander Nikolaev'tch
Shelepin, chief leader of the national labor organization of the Soviet
Union.
Interpreters and close colleagues swarm around him. The one i
the lead is Pyotr T. Pimenov, the Soviet Union's labor representative
and the first communist member of the ILO council. He is somewhat of
-giant but -t ieire is some ing jovial and human about this mighty figu .
Pimenov is on the offensive, slapping everyone on the shoulder, chewin
gum persistently, vey reminiscent of an American salesman as he prese Lis
his chief to the many labor leaders who have gathered in the coffee ba .
A
40O
b y e F~~r ew %J- aOl?~'F4 79t91 4A'Q 1 M, Fr
s an even ua y e main s ream of delegates moves toward
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to eat and a little rest than with talking and in this stream of people
one could also notice the Norwegian labor organization quartet, Aspengren
moving rapidly with the gleam of battle in his eye, Hojdahl a little be-'
hind him in stoic calm, the international secretary, Sandergren, stridink
rapidly and in conversation with a European colleague, and alone, as
solid and fixed as Dovrefjell itself comes Sunde, judicial adviser of the
Norwegian LO LFederation of Trade Unions) and Norway's representative oni
the ILO council. He sent a nod as a signal that the meeting had gone
well.
Now it was time for lunch -- more concerned with getting a bite
first to emerge. He isn't smiling any longer, looks tired and somewhat
selfconscious. Immediately some people guess that the negotiations have]
broken down and nerhans there will be no cooperation between Fast and
West! The delegates are riot inclined to talk, this was a closed meeting
after all and was to continue in the afternoon.
After a good 2 hours the doors are opened. Shelepin is among the
tant leaders an eager pack of press men follows hunting for news. The
doors to Room XII close. The top-level meeting can begin.
Vetter. And don't forget, in front of, behind, and beside these impor-
oom Ali. orway s spengren, we en s eijer, an ng an s .urray are,,
seen in the distance. Last comes the one who has put so much into bring'
ing this meeting about, West Germany's labor organization chairman, Oscar
Although the news was not plentiful, it was possible to glean
before the meeting resumed that the atmosphere during the negotiations
had been a good one, factual and constructive, and that a communique
would be issued at the close of the meeting.
thn door h~a 1 con chc ~kc~:
"There is no agenda set up yet, but a meeting will take place." A dele-i
gate from eastern Europe had divulged this -- in the 1 nvatn,-.T Af?.~,- n-11
A cunning newsman from Rome was the first to bring concrete news.!
"They've agreed on a new meeting for late fall 1974," he was able to sayl.
tion problems."
Late in the afternoon the delegates streamed out of Room XII.
The journalists rushed up and a group gathered around Vetter, the West
German labor chairman. "There will be another meeting in the fall," he
said. "A technical committee will plan it. We will try to cooperate on
humanizing the working environment, security on the job site, and pollu-I,
Vetter became silent again and walked on.
others!
Soviet Union? Just tearing down the guard towers and the barred wire
fences would provide a more friendly environment! Would that be on the
program? Hardly. That w.ouldn' _her.elaxatinn.-_of--ten ..~,--mu h-1e ---
friendship and solidarity! That would be intervention in the affairs ofii
The words "humanizing the working environment" began a train of
thought. My glance fell on the garden outside the Palis des Nations.
In the semi-darkness I could glimpse the handsome cedars of Lebanon plant
ed in 1872. It was as if my thoughts had a momentum of their own --
"humanizing the environment," how about humanizing the labor camps in the
Th t u hts.a ken by a dee owerful voice obviously
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in getting Shelepinto talk to him. The Finn told us later that Shelepin
had commented on the meeting with a laconic, "The cold war is over."
The delegates appeared satisfied with the meeting. The atmosphere.
had been free and open. "A step toward relaxation of tension," most of
them commented. "This will be a test for those in the East just as much
as for us in the West," said a Scandinavian delegate. "We must be sober
and vigilant," said another. "We must stick to the purely factual prob-
lems of environmental protection, health and welfare work, and safety on
the job site."
One experienced labor-federation man, a Social-Democrat`from-cen-
tral Europe, had these ideas:
"We must not overestimate what has happened. No politically ex-
plosive issues were dealt with. It was plain that the communist dele-
gates were avoiding burning issues. Nor is it surprising; they are
making long-range plans. If the doors closed now, they would remain
barred for a long time. Nor should we overestimate the spirit of co-
operation that prevailed at the meeting. Shelepin is merely carrying out
the policy that suits the Kremlin at the moment -- and that is coopera-
tion in the framework of relaxation of tension and coexistence. We must
not overlook the basic problem even if there is happy cooperation just
now. Both sides are falsely informed. The illusions must be ripped
a...:y. :-.T.. u+uut v.uNic1 ei i 'wuai i,iia 3uviu1. nUb6ia1J6 want. In the East
they have to learn that they cannot do whatever they want to us in the
West. What happened today might very well encourage the avoidance of
dealing with real political issues, being satisfied to open the door to
further contacts." The real problems will first begin when the concrete
issues are taken up, as we have seen during the negotiations on the Euro-
pean security conference and on relations between East and West Germany.
The joint communique did not say much that was new. It estab-
lished the fact that the summit meeting had taken place, that it occurred
in a good and constructive spirit, that there was a mutual desire for
expanded joint consultations, and total agreement on holding an all-
Europe union conference on humanizing the working environment and
safety issues -- health and welfare on the job -- by the end of 1974.
The communique said nothing about a new meeting place. A number
of rumors were flying. The East German national union organization chair-
man, Herbert Warnke, thought it would be held in Vienna or Helsingfors --
perhaps an expression of what he would prefer himself. Norway's Sunde,
who is a man one can rely on, said it would be in Geneva. And the four
members of the technical committee who now have the task of preparing
the next meeting are the four labor representatives on the ILO council --
England's Murry, West Germany's P?uhr, the Soviet Union's Pimenov, and
Norway's Sunde. They will now make contact with the national labor
organizations in Europe and plan out the next summit meeting which it is
honed can be held in Geneva in late fall 1974.
For this reporter, 19 January was a challenge, a day that brought
more questions than answers. The problems of the very policy of relaxing
?nterna-Tonal--tension hit close to home. This question has so many as-
pects that it will be dealt with separately in the next article.
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 CPYRGHT
Apprn\/prI Fnr Rplpacp 1 GGG/nG/n7 - rIA_RfP7Q_nl 1 QAAnnnl nnR 1nnnl __S;
PYRGHT Shelepin Wants "Friendship =and Coape-ration"
[26 April 1974, p 3]
The unique thing about the conference held under the auspices of
the ILO is just this, that here were gathered not only representatives
of the various governments of the world, but also responsible people
from production life -- employees, employers, and trade union leaders.
This provides an insight into the social, economic, and ideological
forces competing in the world community and a mirror image of the many
human opinions and feelings that are alive just now.
The ILO conference can also serve as a kind of barometer of rela-
ence to another. About 6 or 7 years ago one could feel the icy blasts
of the cold war both in plenary sessions and on the many executive com-
mittees, deliberate attacks that were precisely planned and well co-
ordinated. Then came some years with "lighter breezes," and then
last January, during the 2nd ILO European regional conference and the
all-Europe union summit meeting, good weather set in.
Relaxation of tension and cooperation sent a mild thawing wind
through the many rooms and halls of the Palais des Nations. It was
striking how the representatives of the Soviet Union and the countries
of the eastern bloc at all levels made an effort to offer constructive
cooperation. This positive attitude on the part of the communist coun-
tries made this a very effective conference -- in contrast to the first
ILO European regional conference in 1955 when the delegates of the com-
munist countries put all manner of crude hindrances in the way.
This somewhat unexpected change of climate was so striking that
it created some uncertainty among the western European delegates.
"What did it mean?" many asked themselves. "Was it genuine or
were there tactical motives behind it?"
A Scandinavian employer delegate commented: "It is much easier
when the communists attack us than when they just smile."
It was equally striking that this constructive spirit also
prevailed at the all-Europe summit meeting scheduled by the 200 labor
organization leaders during the 2nd European regional conference. This
meeting which took place on 19 January was an event in itself. After
25 years of cold war and separation., people were nowlooking.for con-
necting points for cooperation.
in the preceding articles we followed the developments that led
to this union summit meeting and some of what happened during that
important meeting. How then is one to evaluate what happened in Geneva
on 19 January and in what-context should we comprehend the spirit of
relaxation that so characterized the 2nd European regional conference?
The leech everybody was_mos.t anxious to hear,- the one that will
be studied and discussed more than anyone else's, was the address by
the Soviet national labor organization chairman, former Komsomol leader
and KGB chief, A. N. Shelepin.
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Wur
the joint communique issued after the meeting ended did not contain
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informative nor wou any of the western labor federation lead-
ers provide any exact information on what Shelepinhad said. Certainly
we heard generalities about its being a mild and moderate speech, but
., LLh_
z,4,z, niac LLV1.1L1L,g. The princisie was resnected that what wac analt with
at a closed meeting should not be passed on to newsthirsty reporters.
Besides it is customary in the West not to publish speeches given under
such conditions, especially when important international questions are
involved.
However the speech Shelepin made in Room XII on 19 January appeared
in its entirety in the trade union paper TRUD, Moscow, 20 January, under
the title, "In the Working-Class Interest." In its introduction TRUD
said an historic event had taken place in Geneva "the importance of which
can scarcely be overestimated."
Shelepin referred to the great tasks of this period -- to secure
peace, promote relaxation of tension, and improve the climate in Europe.
"We believe," he said, "that today there are enough, even that
there are unusually favorable prior conditions for cooperation between
European trade unions, regardless of their ideological views and inter-
national ties. And such a cooperation need be feared by no one. No one
will benefit from it unilaterally. On the contrary, everyone will and
the working class in particular will benefit from such cooperation. We
do not pursue a goal -- as some people think -- of being able to play
a 'leading communist role' in the European union movement or of making
all our western colleagues into supporters of the communist ideology,
but we hope equally that you have not set the goal for yourselves of
making us into supy orters of a different ideology. . . . Ideoio,-;ical
differences have always existed -- they are there and will always be
there, but this does not need to stand in the way of our good relations,
of our cooperation in serving the interests of the working class and all
workers. . . . We are in favor of looking ahead, not looking back."
Shelepin then pointed out that in past years there have been many
bilateral contacts between national labor federations in East and West,
but that now the time is ripe to "take new steps to advance multilateral
cooperation of union movements in Europe. . It is clear that such
cooperation must be based on the principles of nonintervention in each
other's affairs, full equality, mutual respect, and recognition of the
realities that exist today. . . .
"I would like to emphasize, "Shelepin continued, "that we place
the main stress on cooperation, joint actions, and not on an organiza-
tional unity because we think; that at present the conditions for this
are not ripe.
"What does the Soviet labor federation want from the European
union movement? A good deal! First of all -- friendship and sincere
cooperation. That is what we want. That is our sincere desire."
Shelepin then made certain proposals -- which were later made
?; ..,.v 3.v v aav ,J'vsa i.v SU V_si j'A ~. ivv u ..- vJ " ?vi~- .u :, ii~y ?,?
were by and large the basis of the plans now being worked out for the
next proposed top-level meeting to be held, if possible, before the end
of 1974.
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 local 1P Q I
an act of true friendship and cooperation. And perhaps there are those
who will take him at his word and believe it. In his Nobel prize speech
author Alexander Solzhenitsyn quoted a Russian proverb that says:
"Don't believe your own brother, believe your crossed eye." The reason
is this:Shelepin is pursuing larger goals than friendship and coopera-
tion. His speech in Room XII on 19 January was a tactical ploy, a step
in a larger context -- and shaped accordingly. One must plumb deeper !
in order to comprehend the move that is being made. In other words, whalt.
purposes would the all-Europe union summit meeting serve? I
One can draw certain conclusions from the reports and press ac-
counts printed in eastern publications concerning the Geneva meeting.
On 24 January TRUD ran an article entitled, "Unity of Action
in the International Union Movement a Vital Necessity" which said: "The,
position of those forces who have wagered everything on unity of action
and cooperation within the labor movement without regard to orientation
and international affiliation has been strengthened. . . . A'highly
important stage for the development of cooperation within the union
movement on the European continent was reached in the gathering of na-
tional union federation leaders from the European countries which took
place in Geneva within the framework of the ILO regional conference.
The importance of this assembly can scarcely be overstated. . . . Unity
of action in the union movement has become a vital necessity and is in
step with the times."
The organ of the East German national labor federation, DIE
TTRIBUE}TE, commented on 25 January: "This Geneva meeting is an important
event in the life of the international union movement. Even though one
would have to call the Geneva,.meet ing-the first step, ire are talking
about a very important step."
NEUES DEUTSCHLAND, the East German government newspaper, had an
interview entitled "European Union Movement Must Be Factor in Assuring
Peace" with the chairman of the East German labor organization (FDGB),
Herbert Idarnke, writing among other things: "As our subject emphasized'
the Geneva meeting was a clear step forward, a success for the workers'!
and labor organization representatives who have long supported coopera-
tion."
On 16 February TRUD brought a detail account of the summit meet-
ing in Geneva written by P.T. Pimenov, the Soviet Union's labor repre-
+v ILn .. of tho four `'.v will ... .....~.., and onc .. .. 1 ........_a ., 1 uliaall6 V.i
,he next ~all-1 uropean union summit meeting before the end of 1974. The
article is called "Forge Working-Class Unity." Pimenov views the meet-
ing in Geneva as a logical result of the developments taking place sinc
1970-71 -- relaxation of East-'Test tensions and the bilateral contacts
the Communist Union International has made with western union organiza-
tions. Again and again Pimenov emphasizes that the Geneva meeting was
the beginning of an all-Europe union cooperation and, that now it is a
question of proceeding further. Now it is a question of carrying out
the decisions made in Geneva and_ utilizing the favorable conditions of
e presen in e greatest possible cooperation and unity of action
between the European union movements.
The underlying note we see in all these accounts is is: e
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munist Union International's unity efforts, and the constantly mounting
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crises in the capitalist world all compel with historical necessity the
gathering of "a union mass organization founded on the class struggle."
They confirm the fact that all efforts for union unity and coopera-
tion in action will serve the purpose of promoting Marxist-Leninist prin-
ciples.
The purposeful moves of recent years on the European and inter-
national union levels can only be understood in connection with what is
happening on the political level.
Moscow Hopes to Use New Situation to Win Victory in West
[29 April 1974., P 3]
The situation in Europe must be seen in context. Brezhnev's and
Shelepin's efforts are parallel moves. The Geneva meeting and the con-
tinued fight for the free European union movement are steps in the
Kremlin's vast efforts to get into a position where it can exert a
constantly increasing influence over all Europe.
Informed sources in Bonn who have negotiated with the Soviet Union
and the eastern European countries and are still kept informed about
what is going on in the negotiations on European security claim that the
governments of the Warsaw Pact countries are united on bringing about a
security system and a permanent European secretariat that=can provide
them with the legal framework (by means of so-called consultations) so
they can help determine conditions in all Europe.
When Brezhnev was on a state visit to the German Federal Republic
last summer. two Drominent German nnl i f.i r.innc afika~r9 him phrni+ wha+ 1-in
Oulu jai ci cl? ',,u Cli CJ"~C Ti vu! wie European security conference. 'i,ne answer
was: "The ideal result of the conferences in Helsingfors and Geneva
would be the establishment of a permanent European secretariat."
French journalist Rene Debernat confirms that the Kremlin is
seeking to expand its influence westward. He writes:
"During the recently held top-level meeting between Pompidou and
Brezhnev, shortly before the president's death, the Soviet Union con-
firmed for the first time since the end of the war that it wants to
gain a foothold on a lasting basis in.West L ropean affairs. This is
the impression of the French delegation on its return from Geneva."
(MORGETN1BLADET, 5 April 1974)
Here we are touching the very kernel of the difficulties of the
policy of relaxing international tension. On the one hand we have a
community of communist states who want relaxation of tension, peace, and
coexistence but at the sane time are working to conquer the world or at
the least to make sure they can shape it as they wish. On the other
hand we have a world in the West also desiring relaxation of tension,
peace, and coexistence, a world that does o appeal to grasp the dimen-
sion of the challenges confronting it or to do anything effective to
counteract them -- on the contrary, a world that takes such great liber-
ties that liberty itself is endangered.
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 PY
wage a pragmatic, almost static policy of relaxation of tension, the So-
viet Union and the states of the eastern bloc are waging a dynamic and
offensive policy of relaxation of tension. We in the West want to securer
peace in the world. They in the East want to secure the world for com- i
munism. Relaxation of tension and coexistence does not mean that the
Kremlin has given up the idea of world domination or that the world revo-
lution is finished. It is still going on, using other means, the tac-
tics of relaxation of tension and peaceful coexistence.
The point is we are in a new situation, a new stage of warfare
and we in the West must learn to comprehend its significance. Protected
by an "armed peace" in the years ahead we will have to live in a situa-
tion where an "irreconcilable and incessant" ideological rivalry will
spread into all areas of life -- and on a global front. "The onset of
friendship and cooperation" during the 2nd European. regional conference
and the all-Europe union summit meeting in Geneva was only one of the
many moves in the fight to draw Europe into the Kremlin's sphere of inter
est.
One could ask with some justification what is the basis for
coming to such conclusions? Isn't this stating the case at its most
.. t'L.r o of iAeo1ognr p
~:tf
extreme and UE.:sleiC:A, 16u't V Vu~. ago of
From years of studying material which has been available from the
Soviet Union and the countries of eastern Europe, it seems clear that
the champions of Marxism-Leninism are still on the offensive. Since the
24th party congress was held in Moscow in March 1971, there has been a
consolidation of the eastern bloc around a joint foreign political line,
a clear ideological line of demarcation between the non-communist world,
and a constantly growing diplomatic assault in the framework of the
policy of peaceful coexistence. Not to mention military preparedness
which has grown in strength and experience.
But let us go to the source itself to hear what the leaders of
the eastern bloc have to say about relaxation of tension, coexistence,
and relations with the non-communist world.
"We live under the shadow of an unceasing ideological war waged
by imperialist propaganda against our country and the socialist world in
which they use the most refined methods and the most advanced technical
means.'! .(L. I. Brezhnev at the 24th party congress, Moscow, March 1971)
"The ideological struggle will increase in extent and intensity
not in spite of but as a result of the policy of peaceful coexistence."
(Erich Honecker, East German party leader in his closing speech-to the
8th meeting of the central committee, December 1972)
On 5 January 1973 the Polish x e:ws bureau PAP made this on
the European situation: "The closer Europe moves toward a practical co-
existence and the more the continent is involved in the gradual dissolu-
tion of the two blocs, the sharper and more uncompromising the ideo-
logical confrontation between the two systems will be."
- - On 14-15 February 1973 a seminar. was held in East Berlin on
"Peaceful Coexistence and Ideological Struggle." The main speech was
delivered by professor Herbert Haeber, director of the East German
Institute of. International Politics and Economics. Among other things
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he said: "It is necessary that we always be in complete control of what
is at the very core of the policy of peaceful coexistence between states
with differing social systems. We profess this. . .[line missing] wage
the inevitable class struggle whose goal is to avoid an atomic war, but
at the same time to wage the inevitable class struggle between capital-
ism and socialism. In this struggle we allow ourselves to be guided by
the interests of'the workers, by socialism, and by the desire of all
people for peace. Our opponents follow their capitalist class goal.
Therefore peaceful coexistence is no idyll. It is a hard, tough fight."
As the policy of relaxation has developed, the Kremlin and the
eastern bloc seem to have gained more confidence in the policy they are
Dursuin..
"The insuring of peace and the development of cooperation between
all peoples and states in accordance with the principles of peaceful co-
existence provide the community of socialist states highly favorable
external conditions for all-round expansion of international ties and
the drive toward communism." (Kurt Hager, secretary of the East German
CP central committee and member of the Politburo, NEUES DEUTSCHLAND,
29 December 1973)
"Peaceful coexistence does not mean the end of the struggle be-
tween the two social systems in the world. The fight will continue be-
tween the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, between world socialism and
imperialism, until the complete and final victory of communism on a
worldwide scale. Under present conditions, all forms of class struggle
between the two systems -- political, economic, and ideological -- are
closely interconnected in such a way that one form supplements another
and according to the concrete conditions present, first one and then
another form moves into the foreground. The enormous struggle for men's
ideas that has developed in the world today will undoubtedly be decided
in favor of socialism which proves its undisputed superiority in all
areas of.social life." (From an editorial in PRAVDA, 22 August 1973, by
professor Fedo Ryshenko: "Peaceful Coexistence and the Class Struggle")
West L-ust Prepare for Inevitable Confrontation
[30 April 1974]
We also read with interest a decision made by the East German
Politburo on 7 1?ovetnber 1973 concerning "Agitation and Propaganda."
This lengthy document was discussed during a conference held by the
central committee of the East German CP on 16-17 November. Among other
things the decision about ".agitation and Propaganda" says:
"The task of agitation. and propaganda, with our superior spiritual
weapons, is to destroy anti-communism -- the main tool of imperialist,.
bourgeois political ideology -- bourgeois nationalism, Social Democracy,
revisionism, and leftist opportunism. The purity and unity of i+sarxism-
rLeninism must be defended consistently-against-all-attacks. As condi-
tions are today, the fight between socialism and imperialism is raging
with special bitterness and intensity on the ideological front. Here
there is no coexistence, here none can exist. Socialist and bourgeois
ideologies. cannot be reconciled. In this particular area of the stru -
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also an important factor for new victories in the class struggle and in
the confrontations with imperialism, a struggle that increases in inten-
sity. occurs on various levels and in different forms. and thus includes
"Our steady compass is and will remain the doctrines given us by
Marx, Engels, and Lenin. It is precisely in the present phase of the
international class struggle that the spreading of our ideology is a
task of the first priority." (Kurt Hager, secretary of the East German
CP central committee, Politburo member, NEUES DEUTSCHLAND, 4 November
1973)
In many ways Kurt Hager's convictions sound like a modern ver-
sion of whatVlVishinskiy, Stalin's foreign minister, used to say some 25
years ago:... "We will conquer the world not with atomic bombs but with
our ideas, with our sagacity, and with our tenets."
Against the background of the offensive attitude that seems to
prevail in the "community of socialist states," this question is forced
upon us:
With a western Europe that is self-sufficient, plagued by strikes
and internal political strife; with a United States that has been weaken
in authority and in striking force, and a NATO that is no longer what it
used to be, why shouldn't the Kremlin pursue its goal more consistently
and deliberately than ever?
That is a challenge that we in the West must struggle with for a
long time to co...-c,. It is L ci ly here that tlns. policy of relaxation
of tension between East and West comes to our aid. The strong emphasis
in the East on making Europe into a continent of peace provides us in the
West with a unique chance.
That is to say, the chance is there if we understand how to use
Through the policy of relaxation of tension, we in the West have
come into a true and practical conflict and confrontation with commun-
ism -- at the negotiation table, in committees, during the working out o.
the many concrete questions that will eventually have to be solved in a
peaceful fashion.
Let us bid the chance welcome. For when you get right down to it,
it is here the fight must be waged. On motivation, goals, human values,;
freedom. Let us look the truth in the eye. This confrontation will be
no easier for us-than it has been. and still is for those champions of
human rights, Sakharov and Solzhenitsyn. They have manned a more exposed
outpost than any of us in the West, but the heart of the struggle is the!
same. It will require just as much courage, just as much insight, just
as much inner strength -- and not least a new way of thinking and a
responsibility extending over the entire world.
I i would be uuiia u ai LU avoi l__i;he__ coniron_i:ation-
of communism are building up to it. Confrontations exist in order that
they can be met. What is important is that perhaps this is the only
hope and chance the West has of being able to survive as a free eonti-
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Europe stands at a crossroads.
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Where will Europe take its place in the power constellation now
eing developed in the world? Will the next 25 years bring all Europe
Into a vassal relationship to the Soviet Union? To the United States?
Or will our divided continent succeed in finding its own way --
n becoming a Europe creating peace, promoting freedom, acting as a
tabilizing factor between East and West, North and South.
In the fight for Europe's existence or nonexistence as a free
ontinent, the labor movement and the labor organizations of free Europe
will stand in the front line of the confrontation that the policy of
elaxing East-West tensions will produce in the years to come.
At the first important top-level union meeting which took place
in Geneva on 19 January the leaders of western labor organizations were
equal to the challenge. Shelepin and the Communist Union International
lid not achieve the goal3 they had set thans elves. They did not succeed
in setting up a joint union secretariat or an all-Europe action com,;aunit,
to discuss questions of mutual interest.
The question is, what will happen at the next top-level union
acting this fall?
For the time being it is right for western labor organization
leaders to pursue a pragmatic policy of rapprochement. But in the long
un this will not lead forward. It is not possible to avoid confronta-
tion. It will come sooner or later.
The free European labor federations should be better prepared for
confrontation and struggle than most. They know from experience that 1t
takes a tough tenacious fight to carry human rights and basic freedoms t
victory.
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