RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85T00875R001100160030-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 3, 2006
• Sequence Number: 30
• Publication Date: January 31, 1973
• Content Type: IM

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DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence Memorandum
Recent Developments in International
Labor Organizations
CIA
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Confidential
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31 January 1973
No. 1622/73
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CONFIDENTIAL
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Direr 'orate of Intelligence
31 January 1973
INTELLIGENCE REPORT
Recent Developments in International Labor Organizations
The outlook for international cooperation in the advancement of the
free trade union movement has steadily dimmed during the past decade. The
leading instrument of cooperation since World Wjr II-the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions-has for some time been troubled by
ineffective leadership, doctrinal disputes, and rivalries among its national
affiliates. Since the AFL-CIO's withdrawal in 1969, the confederation is no
longer representative of labor even in the industrialized free world, and
because of political and financial constraints, its operations in the less-
developed countries have progressively been curtailed.
For a number of reasons, however, the international labor scene is once
again set for potentially important developments. Some of the more progres-
sive and internationally minded trade unions seem increasingly conscious
that even the bread-and-butter interests of their membership no longer stop
at national borders and that their interests are at least as broad as the
multi-national activities of their employers and governments. In Western
Europe in particular, the enlargement of the European Communities has
brought to the forefront the need for a community-wide representation of
labor's interests. Moreover, the developing spirit of detente has reopened the
issue of relations between the Communist and non-Communist unions,
which the Cold War had effectively decided in the negative.
Nevertheless, the development of a meaningful dialogue among world
trade union leaders-let alone the organization of effective transnational
labor action and collective bargaining -will be slow in coming. Until it does,
an important element will be missing from the organization and regulation of
the increasing foreign investment, trade, and competition that characterize
the international economy.
Note: This report was prepared by the Office of Current Intelligence and coordinated
within CIA.
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The Setting
Three organizations have dominated the international labor scene since
World War II: the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), the Interna-
tional Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), and the International
Federation of Christian Trade Unions-now called the World Confederation
of Labor (WCL).
The WFTU is today essentially Communist-run. Most of its membership
comes from the USSR and the Soviet bloc, but the two Communist-
dominated unions of France and Italy are important and powerful affiliates.
In Africa and the Middle East, the WFTU has worked through leftist
nationalist groupings in its attempts to gain control of the labor movements.
In Latin America, it has not been able to compete effectively with the
well-established .ICFTU and WCL, and in Asia, the Sino-Soviet split has
interfered with its efforts to strengthen its position. The Chinese have been
inactive in the WFTU since the raid- I960s.
The ICFTU was formed in 1949 by affiliates that found intolerable
increasing Communist domination of the WFTU. It has until recently re-
mair_ed rigidly anti-Communist and at one time had affiliates on all the
continents, with a near monopoly in North America and extensive member-
ship in West Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. At its peak, the
ICFTU had functioning regional organizations in Europe, Latin America,
Asia, and Africa. However, the American AFL-CIO withdrew in i969, the
African regional organization is now defunct, and the European grouping is
being reorganized. Nevertheless, the ICFTU still claims 115 affiliates with
approximately 41 million members.
The international which was renamed the WCL in 1968 in a move to
de-emphasize its confessional basis was founded in 1920 p. imarily as a
European organization. Since World War II, it has extended its activities to
Latin America and, to a lesser extent, Africa. Although the WCL, with
approximately 3.5 million members, is considerably smaller than the ICFTU,
it is a strong competitor, especially in Latin America. In Europe, its large
affiliates in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands have worked with the
ICFTU in lobbying for common causes within the EC.
Missionaries
Despite their ideological differences, all three international labor organi-
zations have historically considered it one of their prirnz purposes to
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improve the conditions of labor in the less developed areas of the world. To
this end, they have engaged in "missionary" activities of various sorts. On
occasion a kind of competitive intramuralism has resulted; at other times the
competition has been akin to the Cold War. Moreover, the ICFTU and WCL,
unlike the WFTU, have set up elaborate organizational structures in their
efforts to propagate the message of "free" trade unionism.
The ICFTU, because of its numerous affiliates and the mantle of
aggressive anti-Communism that it assumed at the height of the Cold War,
has on balance the best missionary record. It has financed training and
education programs, organized international and regional conferences, and
attempted to bring international pressure on governments limiting national
union activity. The organization has also promoted causes such as the
equality of women in the work force, adequate social security, and even
measures to combat terrorism and hijacking.
For the most part, the ICFTU has relied upon s :rung national unions in
its Asian, Latin American, and European regionals to advance its programs.
Its African regional organization failed because African unionism is either
tightly controlled by national governments or is pan-African in nature.
Aggravating this problem has been the inability of the ICFTU to curb the
competition among its national affiliates for influence in the area. Although
the ICFTU has recently resolved to resume its African operations, the basic
problems remain.
Funding for international projects has been a continuing problem for
the ICFTU. From the begimiing, some of its affiliates, such as the American
AFL-CIO and the British Trade Union Congress, funneled money directly to
areas and unions of special national concern. The withdrawal of the AFL-
CIO in 1969 added to the ICFTU's financial difficulties. The AFL-CIO
attributed its departure to the failure of the international union to prevent
increased contacts between certain of its member unions and the Commu-
nists in Europe, but also important in its decision was its quarrel with the
ICFTU's handling of the United Auto Workers' bid for affiliation. As a result
of the AFL-CIO's withdrawal, the European affiliates gained control over
most of the remaining funding available for the ICFTU's projects and the
international has increasingly focused on European problems. The Latin
American regional organ of the ICFTU, however, has become largely an
American operation because the AFL-CIO-although no longer a membei-
still provides a very substai