A SMALL TRADE UNION HISTORY

Opening of the World Trade Union Assembly for the defense of the rights of workers against multinational corporations, Santiago de Chile, april 1973. In the centre of the photo is President Allende of Chile. On his left Oscar Semerel from Curacao, representing CLAT. Second on the right side of Allende is Henry Molina from the Dominican republic and also representing CLAT as Deputy Secretary General of CLAT charged with foreign affairs.

At the CLAC WOW meeting in Santiago de Chile (see the BLOG “The Meaning of International Trade Unionism" ) last November I received from Oscar Semerel (trade union leader from Curacao) two photographs. He showed them with a certain amount of pride and nostalgia. He told me about an important international trade union meeting held in the time that the well known Chilean President Allende was still in power. Oscar was invited to the meeting of CLAC-WOW in Chile as president of the CLATJUPAM ( Latin American and Caribbean Federation of pensioned workers and senior citizens). Probably the visit to Chile had reminded him of the photo's he had kept so long. Meanwhile, last December during a congress of the CLATJUPAM in the Dominican Republic, Oscar became honorary president of CLATJUPAM.*

Oscar Semerel presiding the Assembly meeting (first row, third from left)

Both pictures have been made in April 1973 at the “Asamblea Sindical Mundial por la defensa de los derechos de los trabajadores frente a los sociedades multinacionales” ( "World Trade Union Assembly for the defense of the rights of workers against multinational corporations") held in Santiago de Chile. Together with Henry Molina (Deputy Secretary General of CLAT and trade union leader of the Dominican Republic) he represented at the Assembly the former Latin American Workers Confederation CLAT. The idea was that Henry Molina as Deputy Secretary General of CLAT and charged with foreign affairs would be elected as president of the Assembly, but this was blocked by the communist World Federation of Trade Unions WFTU because of “his role in his country”. As a result Oscar was elected president of the Assembly instead of Henry Molina.

Oscar Semerel at the CLAC-WOW meeting in Santiago de Chili, 23 of November 2014

As you can see on the first photo above, the Assembly was officially opened by Chilean President Allende (in the centre of the photo). This was 4 month before the violent coup of general Pinochet (11 September 1973). As President of the Assembly Oscar had the honor to stand on the left side of President Allende. The second on the right side of Allende is Henry Molina. The third on the left of Allende is Ernesto Vogel, President of the Chilean Industrial railway Federation and Vice-President of the Chilean Unitarian Trade Union Confederation CUTch. In the past he had won the presidential elections within the CUTch, but as leader of the christian democratic group within the CUTch, he was not allowed to exercise his presidential functions by a coalition of the left.

I remembered the history vaguely because at that time I was working with CLAT Nederland, the Dutch solidarity association with CLAT. We had an own bimonthly magazine called 'CLAT-Nieuws' (CLAT-News). In the bimonthly the following was written on this Assembly:

The front page of the bimonthly magazine 'CLAT News', September-October 1973

“The Chilean unitarian trade union confederation CUTch tried meanwhile to establish cooperation between the various national and international labor organizations on a global scale. The Chilean experience with multinationals had taught them that international solidarity is important. Between 10 and 15 April this year, she had therefore organized a conference for all trade unions in the world. At that congress in Santiago de Chile were 350 delegates gathered from around the world, who together represented 400 million workers. The ICFTU did not participate in the conference. She refuses to cooperate with the communist organizations that were present at the conference. The ICFTU apparently holds rigidly to its "anti-communist" line. She still cherishes the cold war ideology while the multinational companies have forgotten it ... " (CLAT News, September-October 1973, 4th year number 6, page 14)

Photo of the audience at the CLATJUPAM Congress held in the Dominican Republic, December 2014. The right X is the elected President José Gomez Cerda (Dominican Republic), former Secretary General of the WCL Trade Union federation for small farmers and farmworkers FEMTAA. On the left elected Vice-President Eduardo Garcia Moure (Venezuela), former Secretary General of CLAT. (photo taken from Facebook message of José Gomez Cerda)

* The VII Congress of the Latin American and Caribbean Federation of pensioned workers, seniors and older people (CLATJUPAM), held in Santo Domingo, closed yesterday by electing a new Executive Committee headed by President José Gómez Cerda, (Dominican Republic) and Vice-President Eduardo García Moure (Venezuela).

CLATJUPAM its activities and actions are inspired by the values and demands of Pensioned Workers, Senior Citizens and Older People who are seen as human beings with earned rights from employment and acts autonomous and independent from political parties, employers, governments and religions. The values and principles outlined in the Declaration and Principles are based on the principles of integral humanism.

THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 35 (one of the first steps towards a merger of WCL and ICFTU?)

One of the key players at the meeting between WCL and ICFTU was obviously the Argentine trade union leader and WCL General Secretary Carlos Custer. After the World Congress of the ITUC in Berlin (May 2014) he went to Rome where he met the pope and visited also old trade union friends like former ETUC Secretary general Emilio Gabaglio, (who played an important role in the merger process ICFTU-WCL). At the moment Carlos Custer is Vice President of the Political Consulting Council of CLATE (Latin American Confederation of Public Employees)  and Secretary International Relations of the Argentine political party "Partido Nacional Instrumento Electoral por la Unidad"

Another important event in the period of Carlos Custer as Secretary General is the meeting between heavy delegations of WCL and ICFTU in the month of January 1995. Below you find a report of the meeting based on the notes I took during the meeting. Approximately ten years (2006) after this meeting the merger of WCL and ICFTU into ITUC (2006) took place. One can wonder if this meeting was the beginning of the long way to the ITUC.

Another important role at the meeting was played by WCL President Willy Peirens, also President of the Belgium trade union confederation ACV-CSC (from 1987 - 1999). He also had important functions within the ETUC and the ILO. "Historically, the ACV-CSC has a close relationship with the Christian Democracy. Recent years that band, however, has become much looser. Among the two social-liberal governments from 1999 to 2007, the ACV -CSC also sought cooperation with socialists and greens. Simultaneously the Christian Democrat CD & V moved more and more to the right." (Wikipedia: Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond) 

The WCL delegation consisted of WCL President Willy Peirens, also President of the Belgian confederation ACV/CSC, by far the largest funder of the WCL, Secretary General Carlos Custer (Argentine), the 3 Confederal Secretaries Toolsiray Benedin (Mauritius), Jean Hinnekens (Belgium) and myself (Netherlands), French CFTC President Guy Drillaud, Michel Buvy (Belgium) as President of the WCL World Committee of International Trade Union Federations and Beatrice Fouchère (Swiss) as WCL coordinator at the ILO. From the side of the ICFTU were present General Secretary Bill Jordan (Great Britain), Deputy Secretary General Eddy Laurijssen (Belgium), Secretary general Andrew Kailembo (Tanzania) of ICFTU-AFRO, Secretary general Luis Anderson (Panama) from ORIT. Johan Stekelenburg, President of the Dutch confederation FNV could not be present.

This photo of FNV President Johan Stekelenburg (1941-2003) was taken during his speech at a meeting of the Solidarity Association CLAT-Netherlands because of its 25 years of existence in 1994. Due to the merger between the Dutch Catholic and the Social Democratic trade union confederations, the FNV maintained for several years ties with CLAT-Netherlands as a solidarity association with CLAT in Latin America.

For the record it should be mentioned that FNV worked together with the WCL Solidarity Foundation through their department for international cooperation. The reason for this was that the FNV resulted from a merger between the former catholic confederation NKV and the former socialist confederation NVV (1982). As a catholic confederation NKV has been an important member of the WCL. The NKV supported trade union organizations in the Third World countries through the WCL. It was said that this should not be finished because of a the merger. In practice the cooperation went more and more difficult because the FNV department for international cooperation gave little or no credibility to WCL members in the continents.

The WCL-ICFTU meeting had a friendly character. About some points one agreed easy like for example on the World Bank and the IMF. Both delegations agreed that the ILO and/or the Ministers of Labor should be more involved in decisions taken by these global institutions. The G7 meetings should be considered as a lobby target when there are special cases on the agenda that are labor related. The proposal of Germany and Britain to diminish the European Union aid for the so called Lomé countries was rejected. On the contrary WCL and ICFTU agreed to push for more support. It was also decided that together with the European Trade Union Confederation ETUC the European Union must be pressed to give more support to the former Communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

The debates became more critical when members of the ICFTU delegation presented complaints about the behavior of regional organizations of WCL. ORIT Secretary General Luis Anderson wanted more respect and a dialogue instead of a confronting attitude of CLAT. Secretary General Anderson refers to problems around CUT in Chile and another new confederation that has been attacked by CLAT. Anderson wonders what WCL and CLAT are doing in Chile.

ICFTU Secretary General Bill Jordan (left) "Mr. Jordan was a member of the General Council of the British TUC, and served on all its major committees, including the Finance and General Purposes Committee, the International Committee, Economic Committee and the European Strategy Committee, which he chaired. He served on the National Economic Development Council and chaired its Engineering Industry Committee, was on ACAS Council and member of Foundation for Manufacturing and Industry." 

ORIT Secretary general Luis Anderson McNeil (middle). " He was the first Panamanian Secretary General of CIOSL/ORIT Inter-American Regional Organization of Labor (ORIT/ILO). He was also appointed Vice Minister and Minister of Labor in the Republic of Panama in 1984, member of the Board of Directors of the Panama Canal Commission from 1983 to 1989 and member of the Board of Directors of the Panama Canal Authority, the entity that oversees the Panama Canal. He contributed to the labor aspects of the Torrijos-Carter Treaty signed in 1977 between Panama and the United States of America." (Wikipedia)

Andrew Kailembo was Secretary general of the African ICFTU organization AFRO. You can find some information on him in a book of  George Gona, Andrwe Mtagwaba Kailembo: The Life and Times of an Africa Trade Unionist, Nairobi, Printpak, 2002, ISBN 9966-25-7.

Andrew Kailembo was Secretary general of the African ICFTU organization AFRO. You can find some information on him in a book of  George Gona, Andrwe Mtagwaba Kailembo: The Life and Times of an Africa Trade Unionist, Nairobi, Printpak, 2002, ISBN 9966-25-7.

Carlos Custer confirmed the very critical position of CLAT towards ORIT but he said also that there should be mutual respect and that he as Secretary General is working on this. “We should do everything possible to come to cooperation and agreements like for example the declaration of all Peruvian and Ecuadorian trade unions against war. In Chile it is not the WCL nor CLAT that decide what happens but the members of the new trade union confederation. Cooperation in Africa should not be a problem because of the fact that one or two trade unions choose for a membership of another international trade union federation.”

Secretary General Kailembo refers to the cooperation between ODSTA and AFRO at the ILO Conference 1994 and on the new EU Lomé Treaty as examples of good relations. On the other side AFRO and members of the Executive Committee of the ICFTU were not pleased with what he called trade union piracy in Ghana and Liberia. Toolsiray Bendin recognizes the problems in Africa and confirms that ODSTA does not want to have problems with ICFTU. The problem is that some trade unions of a confederation are affiliated to ICFTU oriented international trade federations (ITF's) and others to WCL ITF's. But ODSTA does not accept any so called double membership.

The ICFTU delegation remarked that the differences between the regional organizations in Latin America and Africa made it very difficult for the ICFTU to cooperate more with the WCL. But on the other side in view of the growing globalization we have to come to more cooperation, to a common policy and to speak with one voice.

WCL President Willy Peirens confirmed this by saying that “even when one can not agree on a merger with the aim to come to one voice, we should cooperate with the aim to make stronger the international trade union movement. This also requires cooperation at the ground level, open and honest relations together with reliable organizations. WCL does not always check the reactions of its members on regional or national level. Sometimes there are “accidents de parcours”. We should use all our efforts to avoid such accidents. There is no alternative." ICFTU Secretary General Bill Jordan concludes at the end of the meeting that “the international trade unions” need a single voice. The employers are merciless. They want to get rid of all trade unions. We need to unite, so they cannot continue on that way.”

The meeting gave me the impression that the ICFTU wanted to make clear that the regional WCL organizations blocked the cooperation between the WCL and the ICFTU and not the European trade unions (which did not have anymore their own regional WCL organization, a big mistake of the European WCL trade unions taking into account that they were indeed a minority in the European Trade Union Organization ETUC).

On the one hand Carlos Custer as a man of CLAT confirmed the position of CLAT opposite to ORIT, in the eyes of CLAT a trade union instrument in the hands of the North American AFL-CIO and behind it the US Government (it may be not accidental that the AFL-CIO was not present at this meeting). On the other hand, as a good trade union diplomat with a lot of experience in trade union unity country Argentina he confirmed that mutual respect en cooperation must be possible between the two democratic international trade union organizations.

It seemed that WCL President Willy Peirens, as leader of one of the strongest European trade union confederations and a in one of the smaller economies of Europe, wanted to go very far into cooperation with the ICFTU. He used even the words “merger” and “no alternative” during his interventions. As a strong confederation in a small country ACV/CSC looked always for good relations with the strong trade union confederations in the neighboring countries which besides being member of the ETUC were also member of the ICFTU like the Dutch FNV, the German DGB and French trade union confederation CFDT (a former Christian trade union confederation that had left already a while ago WCL). Moreover some years ago some strong trade unions of ACV/CSC had left the WCL international Trade Union Federations and had become a member of ICFTU oriented International Trade Federations. Besides all this the ACV-CSC is a strong competitor of the also strong Belgium socialist oriented confederation ABVV-FGTB which is a also an important member of the ICFTU. 

At that time I believed that ACV/CSC did not look for a merger with the ICFTU because of respecting the positions of the WCL regional organizations CLAT and ODSTA and others, and not in the least because ACV / CSC could play a bigger role on the international stage with the WCL than without.  

THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL (PART 18)

Santiago Pereira, Secretary General of the Chilean Confederation CCT affiliated to CLAT in his office in 1991, one year after Pinochet left Government.

Left and right in Latin America continued to fight against each other, with or without weapons, but always with the involvement of the U.S.. In Chile, by domestic opponents, the army and with the help of the U.S. , the democratically elected leftist President Allende of the United People Coalition was overthrown (1973). The result was years of repression under the dictatorship of General Pinochet. The example of the Chilean putch was followed by generals in Brazil and Argentina. The unions in those countries were controlled by the dictatorship. Trade unionists were murdered. The supposed rise of the left crashed into violence and oppression of the Latin American armies. Restoration of the rule of law would then take decades.

After the Sandinist revolution the Nicaraguan Confederation of Workers CTN resited the severe attacks of the Sandinista Government. In 1988 he was together with 3 CTN members and other protestors arrested in Nandaime. Because of international pressure he was freed after a short time in prison. (Photo 1983)

CLAT tried to survive among all this violence as a democratic , humanistic, social – Christian oriented trade union movement, but it was not easy . Again that was the case in1979 after the victory of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua . Like in Cuba, after the victory of the revolution, Marxist oriented Sandinistas started to make life difficult for democratic trade unions. CLAT had not only to keep fighting against conservative, employer oriented regimes but also against left-wing regimes who believed in dictatorship as an answer to injustice, exploitation and poverty . Thanks to support from Europe including the WCL but also European NGO's , CLAT managed to survive, but always distrusted by both sides. 

The fall of Communism made a temporary end to the radical, revolutionary Marxism as a viable alternative to development and social justice, but it brought at the same time the victory of American neoliberalism . CLAT General Secretary Emilio Maspero did not hesitate and declared war to neoliberalism. He analyzed that neoliberalism together with the proposal to create an American Free Trade Zone, would degrade Latin America into a large supermarket in which the U.S. can buy what it needs and the workers will stay poor.

This photograph has been taken in 1982 during a visit to CLAT Netherlands (a solidarity organization with CLAT). From left to right: Kees van Kortenhof (coordinator of CLAT Netherlands), Carlos Custer (Confederal Secretary of WCL), Emilio Maspero (Secretary General of CLAT), Ernesto Molano (Secretary General of the World Federation of Industrial Workers WFIW/WCL) Wouter van Dam (President of CLAT Netherlands) and Juan Marcano, Secretary General of the Venzuelan CGT, affiliated to CLAT.

Also according to Maspero the answer to this challenge or provocation of the U.S. was a kind of Latin American Union along the lines of the European Union. Unfortunately, in every day Latin America this is more a dream than a practical possibility. A project of such magnitude requires at least a minimum of common understanding, political and financial stability, economic growth and governments that can assert its power to all corners of the country. Already only the lack of mutual trust makes it difficult to come to a common market, let alone into a Union with open borders and common directives like in the EU. And we're not even talking about the U.S., which from a hegemonic position can play with the political and economic interests of each and every country.

The result was that one cooperation pact - the Andean Pact in 1969 – was followed by another – Mercosur in 1991 - without the first pact having given a significant result. In 1994 another new attempt was made to create a common Latin American market with a common economic policy. The Andean Community and Mercosur merged into the Union of South American Nations, an organization modeled as the European Union. Unfortunately Emilio Maspero could not witness this anymore. He died on the 31 of May 2000. Was this what Emilio Maspero had dreamed of and finally Latin America give a common response to the challenges of the U.S.?

It was precisely the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who spoiled the game with his Bolivarian Socialism, a variation on the Marti Socialism of Fidel Castro. Balanced policy to achieve a common Latin American market and economy, was replaced by anti-American rhetoric. Chavez used his petrodollars to set up his own alliances. Once again the result was regional political instability and confusion. Again the Latin American institutions were not strong enough to resolve the disagreements in concert. As a true caudillo Chavez made his own one-man show. With his death in 2013 this all came to an end. Since then it has become calm in Latin America and little heard from a possible common Latin American policy, common market and directives.

Photograph taken at the UTAL, San Antonio de los Altos, Venezuela during a mission of three members of the Dutch parliament to Venezuela, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Haïti organized by CLAT-Netherlands. From above left clockwise: Harry Aarts of the Christian Democratic Party, Aad Nuis of the Democrats 66, Harry van den Bergh of the Social Democratic Party, José Merced Gonzalez of CLAT and the translator.

The intellectual and organizational capacities of Maspero in this new Latin American political crisis were sorely missed . What should be the attitude of CLAT facing the Venezuelan government of Chavez ? For or against Chavez, in both cases it would become difficult. To be against Chavez and his supporters meant surely difficulties for CLAT, with its headquarters and training and educational center UTAL still in Venezuela . Supporting Chavez would mean CLAT to choose against its own principles in favor of an authoritarian Marxist nationalist leadership in which the trade union is subjected to state and government. Whatever the new leadership of CLAT would choose, difficulties would be there.

To make things even more difficult, in the meantime the merger between WCL and ICFTU was announced which meant CLAT would loose its international support. Was this the reason that CLAT decided so surprisingly quick to merge with the ORIT? But on what common ground they are standing? The European trade unions united in the ETUC have at least the European Union as a common project with the aim to defend and extend the welfare state in times of globalization. Will there be in the near future an Inter-American Union with the dollar as a common currency (you don't believe the US will change its dollar for an inter-american currency like the Germans changed the Deutsche Mark into the Euro)? Will there be an Inter-American Parliament and an Inter-American Government like the European Parliament and the European Commission? Will there be common borders (the Rio Grande will disappear), a common market (an inter-american supermarket), a common foreign policy, and finally a social Latin America?

As far as I know such a common interregional project does not yet exist in the Americas. On the contrary, the US is still exporting its neoliberal, free market model to Latin America and the rest of the world. It's true, this model has given wealth to a large middle class, which reaches to the skilled workers in the US. Do Latin Americans now think that this model can also be applied in their continent? But probably it is already very important that the Latin and North American trade unions together stand for democracy and the civil society as the only way to live together. It seems that these are very interesting topics for debates between the North American and the Latin American unions. But may be there have been also other reasons for CLAT to merge with ORIT?

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...