THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 50

A group photo of the participants of the WCL Confederal Board made in Senegal, April 1998. 
I may be wrong but I believe this was the first Confederal Board without 
CLAT General Secretary Emilio Maspero. 
BATU President Johny Tan was already a long time not active. 
He was replaced by Noel Rebello (India) and later Muktar Pakpahan 
(President SBSI, Indonesia). Emlio Maspero died in 2000 at the age of 73. 
Johnny Tan in 2006 at the age of 82. 
Both had an outspoken WCA vision and ideals.

Before continuing the analysis of the Gabaglio discussion paper, I want to emphesize the importance of the document. Don't forget it has been used two times as a guide for the debates between the executive committees of WCL and ICFTU. I don't know what history the document has had in the ICFTU but in the WCL it has guided the debates in the European Section and therefore also in the Confederal Board. Whatever the reasons are, it seems strange that an outsider but at the same time a man of the ICFTU has been asked to present such a document. On the other side, it is interesting to read the opinion of an outsider/ICFTU oriented man about the history of the WCL.

Gabaglio writes the following about the WCL after the downfall of communism.“1.9 The WCL has played a leading role in supporting free trade unions in Central and eastern Europe (active support to Solidarnosc from the beginning). The day after the Romanian Revolution, the WCL offered its support to Cartel alfa, the country's first independent organisation, and took similar initiatives in other countries.”

This is indeed what happened and credits for this goes first to WCL Secretary General Jan Kulakowski (see blog: Solidarnosc and the struggle for the trade union movement after communism. and The downfall of the WCL part 3 and for Romania to the former Confederal Secretary Emiel Vervliet (Belgium). Unfortunately Solidarnosc gave always priority to the ICFTU for reasons which were never clarified. Was this because of the AFL-CIO that supported the anti-communist policy of the American President Ronald Reagan and therefore openly choose side for Solidarnosc while the European left hesitated to take side openly for Solidarnosc? Or was it a matter of money? Given the struggle of Solidarity against communism based on human and Christian values, I do not wish to believe in the latter.

“1.10 However, the main organisations of most of those countries joined the ICFTU, which was supported by great European confederations (mainly the DGB) and the ACILS, which was an AFL-CIO agency. The latest affiliation registered was that of the Russian federation in 2001.”

It is true, the AFL-CIO affiliated - what Gabaglio calls - “the main organisations” in Central and Eastern Europe. But it would have been more frank if he in this context had used the expression ex-communist organisations. Some, so not all, changed rapidly of flag from communism to (social) democracy without worrying too much about democracy. However, for the ICFTU realpolitik was sometimes more important than democracy. That is also the opinion of Gabaglio because later in the document he writes with regard to this about “the erratic policy” of the ICFTU.

In point 1.11 Gabaglio claims that the Austrian and Swiss confederations distanced themselves from the WCL because of not paying dues. As far as I know this had more to do with an internal dispute about the WCL policy which the executive committee could not arrange. These two confederal organisations had the opinion that the WCL did not listen to their comments and did not give enough support on European level. Therefore, on the contrary what one would expect, their trade union affiliates in different sectors continued to pay their dues to the international trade union federations of the WCL. For example the WFCW (bank and commercial employees) and the WFBW (Wood and Building) had for many years a Swiss treasurer.

Muktar Pakpahan, President of the Indonesian independent trade union confederation 
SBSI (Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union)

“1.12: At the world level, and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the WCL has strongly developed in Africa, especially since pluralism started being tolerated within the continent. In Asia, it is worth highlighting the affiliation (in 1977) of Indonesia's SBSI, the only independent organisation of the world's fourth most populous nation and the world's largest Muslim populated country.”

The SBSI was in a certain sense for the Indonesian dictatorship what Solidarnosc was for Polish communist dictatorship. From its start, SBSI fought for the so-called 'Reformasi' with the aim to return to democracy and pluralism in Indonesia. Because of this the SBSI President Muchtar Pakpahan was jailed many times. The credits for the affiliation of SBSI to the WCL go to the CNV and especially former President Anton Westerlaken who visited the SBSI President Pakpahan when he stayed in prison and had to appear in court.

Muktar Pakapahan was sentenced several times to imprisonment in the period 1994-1998.
It was at this time that CNV President Anton Westerlaken visited him in prison 
and during a trial.

While the WCL gets some credits from Gabaglio for promoting trade union pluralism in Africa and affiliating the Indonesian confederation SBSI, the ICFTU is praised by Gabaglio for affiliating “great progressive organisations all over the world, such as Brazil's CUT in 1995, South Africa's COSATU in 1997 and South Korea's KCTU in 1999.” (point 1.13) Can it be that the word “progressive” used by Gabaglio is a euphemism for “socialism”?

With point 1.16 we arrive to the most important remarks of Gabaglio regarding the aim of the unification of WCL and ICFTU. First he declares that “the trade union scenario has changed and the ideological lines first drawn have become blurred” because of the fall of the Berlin Wall (a much used euphemism for the economic political, moral, social and ideological collapse of communism). In the meanwhile ICFTU had changed also: “The affiliations registered in emerging or developing countries in general, and in Arab countries in particular, have somehow modified the image of the ICFTU as a confederation dominated by industrialized countries.”

CNV President Anton Westerlaken at a special conference organized 
by the Dutch solidarity association CLAT-Nederland 
at the occasion of its 40th anniversary. (1994)

However, this is a to easy conclusion. The rich members have had always more voting power than the poor and weaker organisations. This has been always the case in the ICFTU and the WCL. However, the latter tried to give a greater voice to the poor trade union members by giving them a minimum presence and voting power. In general it can be said that international solidarity has its limitations also in international trade unions, whatever nice words are used.

In the next point 1.17 Gabaglio makes a remarkable observation, nearly a confession that I already announced before: “Over the past years , this change has been translated into a new ICFTU affiliation policy. In the past, this policy was “erratic”. Today, the ICFTU has refused to accept the affiliation of the leading (but not really democratic) organisation of Ukraine, and has decided to shelve its project on the unification of Indonesia's official trade unions against the SBSI, which is a WCL affiliate.”

The expression “erratic policy” seems to refer what is normally called “realpolitik”. In realpolitik, economic and political power of a trade union is more important than its democratic structure and culture. A policy well known from for example the USA in Latin America and made that the USA preferred to support a pro-American dictator in stead of a leftist elected government. A bitter example of this policy was what happened to the Allende Government in Chile (1970-1973). One of the instruments used by the ICFTU to gain control of trade unions was also to force them to unite as for example was tried once in Romania and so also in Indonesia.  

THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL (PART XIX)

The last picture I made of Emilio Maspero, was in November 1991 during the general assembly of CLAT Netherlands. Second from left is Emilio Maspero. To his left is Leonie van Bladel, President of CLAT Netherlands. To his right CLAT deputy general secretary Enrique Marius. Standing in front of the painting of the Dutch Queen Beatrix, made in Haiti, Hedy d'Ancona, Minister of Culture.

Unlike the European trade unions, the unions on the American continent don't have a common project similar to the European Union. On the contrary, until recently CLAT was convinced that the North American labor movement defended interests opposed to those of Latin America. At the time of the Cold War the AFL-CIO even placed the interests of the U.S. above the struggle for democracy and social justice in Latin America by defending the foreign policy of the US sometimes together with military intervention (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Chile etc) and even supporting dictatorships (Paragua, Nicaragua) . Has this been changed since the end of the Cold War? Maybe nowadays the AFL-CIO feels more connected with the Latin American trade union struggle for democracy and social justice than before but the question remains which model the AFL-CIO sees as the most appropriate for Latin America? That of neo-liberal capitalism, which has indeed brought much prosperity for North American workers, or the European model with its social dialogue, its network of social and health services, protection of the labor market etc.?

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez identified himself strongly with the Great Liberator Simon Bolivar (digital photo composition by Petrus)

In this ongoing debate between the northern and southern part of the American continent, which was conducted by CLAT with a certain ferocity, the Twentieth-Century Socialism of Venezuelan President Chavez sowed once again confusion. Just then also died Emilio Maspero (2000), the man who had made CLAT great with his intellectual power and energy. And if that was not enough, shortly thereafter from Europe came the first rumours about a merger of the WCL with the ICFTU. For CLAT General Secretary Eduardo Garcia, who had become the successor of Emilio Maspero, it must have been difficult times. How CLAT was going to continue without the WCL because it became soon clear that particularly the Belgian ACV/CSC was serious about the merger (under pressure from the Walloon side ). Without WCL there would be no more international political and financial backing for CLAT. The merger of WCL with ICFTU would certainly lead to financial problems and that would be very bad at all for CLAT with its headquarters and training and education center UTAL in Venezuela, the very country of President Chavez.

The tragedy is, that despite the many millions of dollars in aid from Europe during the last decennia, the CLAT had not succeeded to become financially independent. There are many causes for this. First of all the overall lack of political stability in Latin America due to poverty , social injustice , undemocratic political leadership , unemployment , the place of the military in the political system ( in some Latin American countries the budget of the army is many times larger than for example of the ministry of education or social services programs ), and so on. The second cause is the inability of unions to develop a sound financial policy. Solidarity is a commonly used word in Latin America, but it appears very difficult to put it into practice. Besides, trade union members feel more like a victim without self-esteem than people with confidence in the future. Many trade unions promote this culture of "being victim", not realizing that this undermines the confidence of their own members. All this is reinforced by a widespread lack of trade union democracy and transparency, whereby many trade unionists distrust the trade union and do not see their own trade union as their own responsibility. The consequence is that the payment of trade union contribution is low and irregular.

Opening of the UTAL in 1975. From left to right: Victor Duran who became later Director of UTAL, José Merced Gonzalez who was also WCL Confederal Secretary and Rangel Parra, General Secretary of the Latin American Federation of small Farmers (FCL).

Of course, CLAT also looked for other financial sources than membership fees, to finance its budget. For an international organization this is not easy . Nevertheless, with foreign aid in the course of decades, many projects have been set up , designed to make possible self-financing of CLAT. Many of these projects failed, due to lack of entrepreneurial and management skills. To lead succesfully a business requires other skills than leading a union. For example, thanks to the support of the Dutch NOVIB , CLAT had in the seventies its own printing company in Caracas, Venezuela . Despite the support of two Dutch experts paid by the NOVIB, the company had to be sold after some years . CLAT has also tried to reduce the costs of UTAL by renting it to outsiders but also failed to a large extent and had to knock back on the doors of European donors.

On WCL Board Meetings Emilio Maspero talked about opportunities to present projects in the various bodies of the European Union to support the WCL and its regional organizations, including CLAT . He spoke at one point even about the golden mountains of the European Union. A misunderstanding that I would have liked to make clear to him, but I believed this was a matter of discussion to be led by WCL chairman Willy Peirens. As a member of the Steering Committee of the European Trade Union Confederation ETUC, he was well informed that the European Union was the domain par excellence of the ETUC. Since WCL unions are a minority in the ETUC it was hardly possible to make use of EU funds. In the framework of the Phare-Tacis program repeatedly it has been tried to present projects with the aim to build democratic unions in Ukraine and Belarus. But one way or another, those WCL projects never met all bureaucratic requirements . After being rejected two, three times, while others less well–founded projects were approved , there was no other choice but to give up.

Left we see Arie Hordijk (1927-2010), former Secretary General of CNV Netherlands. he is one of the speakers inuring a protest against cutting back aid for development before the Dutch Parliament. In the middle Gerrit Pruim, Secretary of CNV Aktie Kom Over (changed to CNV Internationaal). The Dutch confederation CNV organized  the protest. On the right you see as one of the speakers the Dutch politician Cor Kleisterlee.The other speaker was professor Jan Tinbergen, Nobelprize winner for his work on macro-economics.  Hordijk together with CNV chairman Lanser played an important role in the transformation of the International Christian Trade Union Confederation (ICTUC) into the World Confederation of Labour (WCL). Based on personal experiences and meetings with trade union leaders in the Third World, they came to the conclusion that a purely Christian international had no future while religiously inspired unions do have.

Indeed , the ACV/CSC was watching that even the possibility of a conflict between the ETUC and WCL on available European funds for the WCL or its regional members, should be avoided. Thus, the WCL was not allowed to become a member of the Christian Democratic oriented European Centre for Workers' Questions EZA (the work of EZA is supported financially by the European Union), despite the request of the then new chairman Arie Hordijk, former General Secretary of the CNV ( a key member of WCL) and EZA General Secretary Joachim Herudek. It was said that EZA was an unfair competitor of the European Trade Union Institute ETUI, the Research and Education Center of the ETUC. But to my great surprise the WCL became member of EZA inmediately after the arrival of General Secretary Willy Thys (former ACV/CSC Boardmember). I can only imagine that this was possible because of a certain kind of understanding with the ETUC on the future merger of WCL and ICFTU . The pieces on the European chessboard were slowly pushed in the direction of the merger between WCL and ICFTU while most WCL members stood outside the game.

Before his retirement Joachim Herudek was Secretary General of EZA. 

Curiously but appropriate in this setting, was the prohibition of Willy Peirens to lobby at the Christian- Democratic oriented European People 's Party EPP and other Christian-Democratic personalities at high political positions. Looking for financial support for the 23th WCL World Congress that would be held in Mauritius in 1993, Carlos Custer and myself had a conversation with Miet Smet, Christian-Democratic Minister of Employment and Social Affairs in Belgium . During that time Belgium had the Presidency of the European Union. Therefore Minister Miet Smet was also President of the European Council of Ministers of Labour. We believed she could give a financial hand to our international seminar prior to the Congress by delivering one or more speakers funded by the EU or some other kind of financial support. The WCL president rejected our efforts declaring that the Minister of Labor made life of ACV/CSC difficult. The argument that we spoke to her as the President of the European Council of Ministers of Labor and not as a Minister of Labor of Belgium, was not accepted.

The WCL Board Members at the 23 Congress 1993 in Mauritius. From left to right: Bogdan Hossu, President of Cartel alfa Rumania, Anton Westerlaken, President of CNV Netherlands, Emilo Maspero General Secretary CLAT, Willy Peirens President WCL and ACV/CSC Belgium, Akpemado General Secretary ODSTA, Michel Bovy, President International Trade Federation FIOST and Belgium Transport Trade Union. Re-elected General Secretary Carlos Custer just walks away.

In the same period I had a similar experience after a meeting with Leo Tindemans (1922-2013), former Belgian Prime Minister and former president of the Christian Democratic European People 's Party EPP . Although Leo Tindemans clearly demonstrated to be ready to establish contacts with the WCL , which he knew well from earlier times, WCL President Willy Peirens did not want to give a follow-up arguing that ACV/CSC had bad experiences with him on national policies. Again, the argument that Tindemans now is more a European than a Belgium politician was not accepted. Once again the WCL was blocked to develop contacts with one of the most powerful political parties in the European Parliament and the European Commission. I was wondering why this was happening because I was sure that ETUC and ICFTU officials maintained contacts with high ranking European Social-Democratic politicians. Also it was very frustrating that ACV/CSC representatives in the WCL Confederal Board insisted upon me as a confederal secretary for Europe, to lobby for more financial support for the WCL, but in practice I had no room for lobbying within the European Union. The result was that on European level the WCL became more and more a political orphan. How could the WCL survive in such conditions?

To be continued

THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL (PART 15)

Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa holds up the George Meany Human Rights Award as AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland applauds during the AFL-CIO convention in Washington (Nov. 14, 1989). 

J. Scott Applewhite / ASSOCIATED PRESS

I suspect that the outspoken anti-Communist legacy of Munkastanascok, just like that of Solidarnosc, was one of the reasons for the special interest of the North American AFL-CIO. President Imre Palkovic told me once that he personally had been invited by AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland to visit him in Washington officially but also at home. An unusual state of affairs. That Munkastanascok had a special meaning for the AFL-CIO, was confirmed in april 1994 when I had a lunch with three staff members of the AFL-CIO in Washington about their policy in Central and Eastern Europe. At the beginning of the lunch they congratulated me with the affiliation of Munkastanascok to the WCL as if we had won a kind of super prize.

LANE KIRKLAND

"From 1979 to 1995 Kirkland was president of the American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). On the international front, Kirkland's support of the Solidarity movement in Poland contributed to the decline of communism. According to Michael Szporer's Solidarity: The Great Workers Strike of 1980,[6] American Unions under the leadership of Lane Kirkland contributed $150,000 shortly after the successful Solidarity Strike, as early as September 1980. At the time, the Carter administration, including its two prominent Polish Americans, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Ed Muskie advised against such aid fearing Soviet reaction. Kirkland boldly took the initiative persuading Zbigniew Brzezinski of the wisdom of supporting the Solidarity movement. In all US union support of Solidarity far exceeded its European counterparts. Solidarity aid was part of Lane Kirkland's internationalist vision for the labor movement and the building of the global consensus on human rights. After the changes in Eastern Europe, Kirkland became a mentor for many prominent labor leaders who saw him as a visionary and visited him in his office at the George Meany Center. He befriended Lech Walesa as well as Marian Krzaklewski who replaced Lech Walesa at the helm of Solidarity. Kirkland was awarded posthumously with the highest Polish award, the Order of the White Eagle."

While the AFL-CIO was a member of the ICFTU, it had its own policy in Central and Eastern Europe. This policy was executed by offices of the AFL-CIO through the Free Trade Union Institute FTUI in various capitals in Central and Eastern Europe and even in Moscow.

“The Free Trade Union Institute (FTUI) was created in 1977 when the AFL-CIO resurrected and renamed the moribund Free Trade Union Committee (FTUC). The purpose was to increase U.S. influence with European trade unions, especially in Spain and Portugal. (16) It was almost defunct in 1983 when Congress began funding the newly-created National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and FTUI has been the largest grantee ever since. (3) NED's purpose is "to encourage the establishment and growth of democratic development in a manner consistent both with the broad concerns of United States national interests and with the specific requirements of the democratic groups in other countries which are aided by the endowment."(14) FTUI is one of four core grantees of NED. The other three are the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), National Republican Institute for International Affairs, and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. In 1988 NED received over $20 million from the U.S. taxpayers. (15) Congress authorizes U.S. Information Agency (USIA) funds for NED which in turn gives money to FTUI and other grantees. FTUI then funds overseas projects which are usually managed by AFL-CIO's three regional labor institutes: American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD), Asian-American Free Labor Institute (AAFLI), and the African-American Labor Center (AALC). (2)”

FTUI says it "supports programs that provide assistance for democratic education, training in basic union skills, and organizing assistance... sponsors exchanges between trade unionists... and supports research on labor rights and human rights..." ( see: Right Web of the Institute of Policy Studies) 

The direct involvement of the AFL-CIO in Central and Eastern Europe had been started with Solidarnosc in Poland. On support for Solidarnosc we read the following on the afore mentioned website:“Poland: The largest recipient of FTUI grants from 1985-1989 is the Solidarnosc. (8) With its funding Solidarnosc was to disseminate information, sustain union ativists, maintain its adminstrative infrastructure, and through its Brussels-based office disseminate information to the West on worker rights violations in Poland. (15) Jerry Milewski, director of Solidarnosc's Brussels bureau said the grants were used for a social fund for Solicarnosc members, and for printing and communications equipment. Radical factions within Solicarnosc criticise the tight hold on funds by Lech Walesa and the union leadership. (8)”

On the same webpage we find Portugal, Spain and France. In Portugal, the support went to the social-democratic oriented trade union confederation UGT as a counterweight to the Communist-oriented CGTP. The WCL maintained friendly relations with a group of Christian workers within the CGTP. In Spain, the Basque nationalist trade union confederation ELA-STV  was supported as a counterweight to the radical left terrorist group ETA. ELA-STV was like Solidarnosc member of both ICFTU and the WCL, these two federations were the only ones in the world with a dual membership. In France FTUI / AFL-CIO supported the trade union confederation Force Ouvrière as a counterweight to the then socialist government of President Mitterand, according to the website.

Photo taken during the Cartel Alfa Congress in 1995 in Rumania. On the right Amaia Betel, international relations ELA-STV. in the centre WCL President Willy Peirens. The Spanish Journal El Pais published on the 18th of June 1988 an article on the funds ELA-STV was receiving from the United States.

I assume that European Social Democratic Parties and Trade Unions were at least aware of this AFL-CIO policy in Europe. It can be concluded that the Cold War was waged also in European trade union country by the AFL-CIO. Given the network of AFL-CIO/FTUI offices in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia, the mission of the FTUI / AFL-CIO had apparently not yet completely finished after the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989).

Photograph taken at the meeting of the ITF-WCL mission to Poland (march 1992) with the Presidents of the Solidarnosc National Federations for Chemistry (Christoph Hnatio) and Energy (Ludwik Zagwojski) talking to Leo Dusoleil, President of the World federation of Industrial Workers (WFIW) of WCL on the left).The man on the right is the translator. 
"Then there's a discussion between the two presidents. Zagwojski seems not won for joining ICF (International Chemistry Federation), given the socialists of Western Europe in the past have always adored Communism and now suddenly changed track." (report L. Dusoleil, March 1992. 

During our trip through Poland along the various national sectoral federations affiliated with Solidarnosc at the beginning of this year (1992), regularly we heard about North American trade union assistance. A few times, we met some North American trade unionists, usually with a Polish background. They were involved in some kind of solidarity program of a national federation or regional organization. So Ryszard Dabrowski, President of Solidarnosc Wood and Building Federation, told us that his union gets help from Canada, Italy, Sweden and North America. "The help from North America consists mainly of technical training of steel benders, masons and carpenters. The North American people are giving this technical training. "(Report, L.Soleil, March 1992) Of course, it is not surprising that Polish migrants in the U.S. like to help their former compatriots to rebuild their country and trade union.

Bob Fielding listening to a presentation at the seminar on "World Federation of Labor for New Trade Unionism after Communism", Budapest March 1993. On his left writing Marleen Mens, one of the very capable WCL secretaries.

I was soon introduced to the North American Bob Fielding who worked at the International Department of Solidarnosc. When I asked how he had become involved with Solidarnosc, he told me that while he was studying in Poland during the rise of Solidarnosc, he had become active in the clandestine Solidarnosc. His stay in Poland and his involvement with Solidarnosc pleased him so much that he decided to stay in Poland and help Solidarnosc with its international contacts. A few years later he told me he went to work for the AFL-CIO in one of the Caucasian republics. I believe he mentioned Georgia, but I can be wrong.

To be continued

THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL (part 3)

The following story is a personal testimony and not a historical record of what happened at the end of the last century and the beginning of the new millennium in the international trade union movement, in particular in CLAT and the WCL.

On the 18th of June 1979 in Hotel Irazu, San José, Costa Rica, the so called Junta de Gobierno de Reconstruccion Nacaional de Nicaragua was presented by the Sandinist priest and poet Ernesto Cardenal. We see from left to right Alfonso Robelo, bussiness man and founder of the Nicaraguan Democratic Movement MDN. Violeta Chamorro wife of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro who was assasinated in 1978. Violeta Chamorro took over his newspaper La Prensa and continued his struggle against the Somoza dictatorship. Sergio Ramirez writer and leader of the so called group of 12, a group of leftist intellectuals that supported the Sandinistas. The other 2 memebers of the Junta, Daniel Ortega and Moises Hassan, both from the Sandinist Guerrilla Forces fighting in Nicaragua, were not present on the press conference. TheJunta took power in the city of Leon, Nicargua on the 18th of July 1979. The Junta was immediately recognized internationally. (photo Petrus Nelissen)

So far we have looked from a Dutch perspective to world history, but what was really going on in the big world? There was a lot of commotion in Latin America, North America and Western Europe and also the Netherlands because of a revolution in a small Central American country. I mean the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua (1979) that I witnessed more or less while I was living in Costa Rica, and to some extent even participated in it.

It was a leftist revolution that got broad support against the right-wing dictator Somoza (traditionally supported by the U.S.) after the Sandinistas had succeeded to unite its 3 fractions, there had been held much (international) political deliberations and a lot of international pressure for example of the Organization of American States (OAS) with a major role of US President Carter. After the victory (July 1979) the Sandinistas got most credits for the revolution and they considered themselves as the real owners of the revolution. Instead the Sandinistas established a democratic regime like for example in their neighbouring country Costa Rica, they started copying the Cuban model with the traditional support of Russia and Communist Europe. The recent elected, traditional anti-Communist U.S. President Reagan (1981) was firmly against it. The result was a civil war with the help of the U.S. between the Sandinista leaders and Contra's (including disappointed Sandinistas) with a high price paid by the population: new deaths and injuries, no peace and especially no economic recovery.

What astonished me was the ease with which European leftist intellectuals left their critical attitude towards the Sandinista leaders. Renowned journalists from leading newspapers and TV defended for example censureship of the Sandinistas against the newspaper La Prensa. The key issue for them was to be anti-North American and especially anti-Reagan, who was always called scornfully a former Hollywood B- actor. At that time communism was rather commonplace in circles of the European democratic left, to a certain extent tolerated by the Socialist International.

More surprising was what happened in almost the same period in Communist Europe. A trade union called Solidarnosc, supported by the Catholic Church and its Polish Pope Paul II challenged the supremacy of the Polish Communist party. No one ever could imagine that something like this would ever be possible. The world held its breath. Would the Soviet Union not retaliate?

Not so initially. The Polish Jaruzelski government (Jaruzelski was considered to be a moderate nationalist) signed an agreement with Solidarnosc that was led by the brilliant former electrician Lech Walesa surrounded by keen advisers. But the recognition of Solidarnosc did only last until december 1981. Moscow forced the government to announce martial law. Solidarity was banned to become illegal. Many members were arrested or went underground. The underground struggle was supported by US President Reagan, the North American union AFL-CIO (member of the world trade union ICFTU) and the WCL, that thanks to its general secretary Jan Kulakowski of Polish descent, had special relations with Solidarnosc.

European political leaders on the other hand did not know what to do. Of course, there was much sympathy for Solidarnosc but it was feared that it would end as did the Hungarian uprising (1956) and the Prague Spring (1968), that is to say beaten down by Russian tanks. In 1988 the Polish government was forced by strikes to start again negotiations with Solidarnosc. In 1989 Solidarnosc was legalized and participated in the first free elections held under a Communist regime in Europe. It was the beginning of the end of Communism in Europe and the Soviet Union.

The Latin American CLAT was downright enthusiastic about Solidarnosc. A union that was able to achieve a political revolution was for decades the dream of CLAT. CLAT also recognized in the anti-communist struggle of Solidarnosc its own anti-communism . This anti-Communism made that CLAT had a very critical attitude towards the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, the Marxist guerrilla groups in El Salvador and Guatemala and all other groups that used Marxist oriented violence as an instrument for change. For this reason in the Netherlands leftist progressive circles turned away from CLAT and the Dutch association CLAT Netherlands that supported CLAT in Latin America since 1969.

In September 1993 a delegation of the WCL led by General Secretary Carlos Custer visited the Polish President Lech Walesa, former leader of Solidarnosc. At the head of the table you see President Lech Walesa. Beside him a government interpreter. On her left WCL secretary general Carlos Custer. Next to him an interpreter of Solidarnosc and myself. On the back you see Kristoff Dowgiałło. At his left Teresa Szabza from the International Department of Solidarnosc.

CLAT sent in 1981 a message to the first legal Congress of Solidarnosc: "The Latin American Workers Central CLAT, together with all its member organizations, feels related from the outset with the values​​, interests and aspirations of the independent trade union movement Solidarnosc. Despite the different political circumstances in which both organizations find themselves, CLAT and Solidarnosc are inspired by the same ideas about man and society, labor and worker, dignity and freedom, justice and solidarity." In 1982 CLAT invited six leaders of Solidarnosc to a meeting on its training institute UTAL in Venezuela.

On the occasion of that meeting CLAT General Secretary Emilio Maspero wrote an introduction titled "The struggle of the free trade union movement in Poland and Latin America." Maspero signals that two irreconcilable models opposed. On the one hand, the totalitarian models advocated by fascist right (eg the Pinochet regime in Chile) and Marxist-Leninist left (eg the Cuban regime of Fidel Castro) and on the other hand, the democratic-humanistic model itself stands for. Maspero defined the relationship between CLAT and Solidarnosc as the common struggle for democratization: in Poland against communism in Latin America against capitalism.

How great the enthusiasm was for Solidarnosc could one see during the visit of Solidarnosc leader Lech Walesa to the 22th WCL Congress, held in Caracas, Venezuela (november 1989). To confirm friendship between WCL and Solidarnosc, Kristoff Dowgiałło from Solidarnosc was elected vice-president of the WVA. Also for the first time in the history of the WCL a general secretary from Latin America was elected,  Carlos Custer from Argentine and a member of the CLAT board who previously had been already confederal secretary of the WCL. CLAT was now more than ever committed to the WCL. ACV President Willy Peirens was elected President of WCL. The future looked bright for the WCL.

To be continued...

SOLIDARNOSC AND THE STRUGGLE FOR THE TRADE UNION MOVEMENT AFTER COMMUNISM

Writing on the death of former WCL secretary general Jan Kulakowski it came up to me to write this blog on the role Solidarnosc played in Central and Eastern European regarding trade union policy of the WCL and the ICFTU in the nineties of the last century until the merger of the WCL and the ICFTU in 2006.
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 In May 1992 a WCL mission visited Moscow, where it had a meeting with dissidents and intellectuals who under the name of CMOT had struggled for trade union freedom, for the first time. The conversation took place in an apartment of one of the members of CMOT. On the right-hand-side of the photo sits WCL Vice President Kristoff Dowgiallo.

Thanks to its Polish Belgian general secretary Jan Kulakowski, the World Confederation of Labour – WCL, developed excellent relations with the Polish trade union Solidarnosc and its famous president Lech Walesa. Because of these good relations it was believed that the WCL, as a social Christian oriented World Confederation, would have a future in Central and Eastern Europe, and therefore perhaps in all of Europe. Solidarnosc had, however, not only become an affiliate of the WCL, but also of the competing International Confederation of Free Trade Unions – ICFTU. Within the ICFTU, Solidarnosc had special relations with and support of the North American trade union federation AFL-CIO, which together with the US Government had supported it from the start of its rebellion against the Communist dictatorship

The highlight of this friendship between Solidarnosc and the WCL was the visit of Solidarnosc President Lech Walesa to the World Congress in Caracas, Venezuela in 1989. As to confirm the good relations Kristoff Dowgiallo of Solidarnosc was elected vice-president of the WCL. As vice-president he led several missions to Central and Eastern European countries as well as Russia. I was one of the delegates joining him on these missions. During these mission we met a lot of leaders of newly-established democratic and independent unions. The result was that after a while a number of unions in countries such as Lithuania, the Ukraine, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia joined the WCL.

In September 1993 a delegation, led by WCL Secretary General Carlos Custer, visited Polish President Lech Walesa, former President of Solidarnosc. (At the head of the table President Lech Walesa. Beside him an official translator. At her left WCL Secretary General Carlos Custer. Next to him an interpreter of Solidarnosc and myself. On its back Kristoff Dowgiallo and to his left Teresa Szabza of Solidarnosc).

Despite these good relations slowly but surely tensions emerged on the WCL policy in Central and Eastern Europe. Those were caused by the fact that the WCL succeeded in affiliating some new democratic and independent unions which were courted also by the AFL-CIO. One example is the affiliation to the WCL of the Hungarian trade union confederation Munkastanascok. This union was highly sought after for by the AFL-CIO as I later learned from the leadership of Munkastanascok as well as from some AFL-CIO officials who told me this during a lunch in Washington. Another example was the affiliation to the WCL of the Ukrainian confederation VOST.

 In March 1993 the WCL organized a seminar in Budapest for some new democratic, independent unions in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. (Second from left Bogdan Hossu, president of the Romanian trade union confederation Cartel Alfa. Next to him on the right Imre Palkovics, president of the Hungarian Trade Union Confederation Munkastanascok. Second next to him on the right Bob Fielding, North American and Polish from the AFL-CIO and working at the International Department of Solidarnosc).

Another example were the confrontations with regards to the Baltic States. The Scandinavian unions affiliated to the ICFTU, considered the WCL activities in the Baltic countries, where the WCL developed friendly relations with different new democratic and independent unions, as inappropriate. A high ranked official of the Swedish LO told me that the Baltic countries belong to the Scandinavian trade unions and not to the WCL. At the same time an AFL-CIO official regularly visited the Lithuanian trade unions.

The struggle for the international affiliation of Central and Eastern European trade unions, as well as Russian unions, became more severe and foul with the years. During a joint WCL/ICFTU mission to Belarus in order to support democratic independent unions in their struggle for trade union freedom and the right to strike against the authoritarian President Lukashenko, ICFTU delegates gave much more money than was agreed upon.

At the end of nineties, and more and more openly, Solidarnosc started to support the idea of a merger between the WCL en the ICFTU. During a WCL Confederal Board Meeting in Paraguay, Solidarnosc openly advocated a merger while many WCL unions were against this. It became also clear that the Belgian Christian Trade Union ACV supported the idea of a merger between the WCL and the ICFTU into a new international confederation. In 2006 (Vienna) the WCL as well as the ICFTU decided with vast majorities to disband themselves and to found the new international confederation ITUC.