World Trade Union Conference

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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 ] 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[edit]

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

Asia[edit]

Africa[edit]

Europe[edit]

North America[edit]

Oceania[edit]

South America[edit]

  • Columbia: Bernardo Medina
  • Uruguay: Luis Gonzalez

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

External links[edit]

References[edit]

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