THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 55

How were the formal decision procedures about the merger with the ICFTU and what happened with the CNV proposal and other alternatives? The first step in the formal debate was put at the 18th of March 2004 when the members of the European Section (an informal gathering of European members, without structure and secretariat) exchanged views on the relations with other international organizations. A final decision would take place in October of the same year. (Activities Report of the European Section, Doc 3, 12.10.2004)

Jaap Wienen as president of the World Federation of Industrial Workers WFIW during the WCL Association Board in Washington in 2000.  Jaap Wienen came from CNV Industrial Workers Trade Union of which he was treasurer. His election as Deputy General Secretary of the WCL was seen by CNV as strengthening the preservation of the WCL. He managed to maintain his function as Deputy General Secretary in the new organization ITUC.

According to the minutes it is Deputy Secretary General Jaap Wienen (former CNV trade union leader) who introduces the debate: “During the ETUC Congress in 2003, ICFTU Secretary general Guy Rider made an appeal to join forces in the trade union world. The difference with earlier approaches is that the aim of the talks would be to build a new organisation (instead of a merger of the WCL into the ICFTU). This appeal was discussed during the WCL Confederal Board in Jakarta, where the political secretariat was given a limited mandate to enter into talks with the ICFTU so as to define the ideas of the ICFTU on a common worldwide approach. On the basis of the dicussions which took place during two meetings, Emlio Gabaglio (former Secretary General of the ETUC) wrote a note which refelects his views on the possible directions of further discussions between the ICFTU and the WCL. This note will be discussed during the WCL Executive Board meeting of March 29 and 30.” 

The opening of the debate is made by CNV staff member Evert-Jan Slootweg who explains the position of CNV. “He reads out the model for cooperation of CNV. The proposed model is meant to be a plus for both existing secretariats (of WCL and ICFTU).” 

Luxembourg LCGB representative Leon Drucker raises some questions about after the merger. “What can be said about the future possibilities of trade unions which share our values? Will cooperation still be possible? Furthermore, how will we explain a possible merger, as we have been stressing the differences in values between the WCL and the ICFTU for years? What will happen with regard to join projects on international level? What will it take to sustain such development cooperation at global level? How will we still be able to identify partners in Africa, Latin America,.(...) As for the national pluralism, it is clearly stated that the identity of the different trade unions should not be questioned.”

Jan Dereymaker of the ACV/CSC international dept. explains the why and how of the merger. He gave 4 reasons for the merger:

1. The appeal of Guy Rider, President of the ICFTU.

2. Some ACV/CSC branch organizations are already affiliated to the ICFTU international branch federations, Global Unions GUFs.

3. The fact that ACV/CSC pays almost 70% of the WCL budget is a weakness of the WCL.

4. What structure is most efficient for the protection for our members?

Other important observations of him are:

- “The time that syndicalism was linked to political parties belongs to the past.”

- “As pluralism is fundamental, this should be a starting point. We should opt for a strong base, a strong 'syndicalisme de base'. Syndicalism should be based on democratic values, and it should be internationalized.

- “A new structure, well balanced from ideological and structural point of view, pluralistic on national level and perhaps on continental level, could be a possible orientation. (…) A foundation may be a good idea to safeguard our identity, but this remains an open question.

Andrej Adamcsik (Solidarnosc, Poland) agrees with the analysis presented by Jan Dereymaeker. He is positive “but admits that he finds himself a bit surprised by the quick progress in the talks with ICFTU.”

Pavel Moutafchiev (Promyana, Bulgaria) believes the merger is necessary because of the globalization. He hopes that the merger will stop the problems with the ICFTU affiliates in his country.

Joseph Thouvenel (CFTC France) is of the opinion that the mandate given in Jakarta has been exceeded. “There should be a balance between material and spiritual dimensions, and these same basic values will not be found within the ICFTU. Furthermore, two voices are better heard than one single voice.”

Bogdan Hossu (Cartel alfa, Rumania) does not agree with Joseph Thouvenel. He proposes a more “flexible mandate” for the Executive Committee and the composition of a work group.

WCT Secretary general Gaston De Lahaye clarifies the position of the World Confederation of Teachers “To the WCT, an important issue was the discussion on the values. As the essence of these values, the identity of the WCT, is reflected in the declaration of principles, this was presented to the colleagues of Education International, who did not have any problems with it. A joint declaration of principles will be drafted, taking into account the identity of the WCT. Pluralism on the national level has been well defined. National agreements can be a side effect of the cooperation, but it does not necessarily have to be so.”

Bart Bruggeman speaking as President of the Dutch solidarity organization CLAT-Netherlands in 1998. Bart Bruggeman became president of the WFIW after the election of Jaap Wienen to WCL Deputy Secretary General. 

Bart Bruggeman (CNV) “supports the viewpoint of his French colleague. There would have been protest during the Confederal Board had Willy Thys indicated that Emilio Gabaglio was going to present the note.” He wonders if there will be organized tendencies or not in the new organization?

Andrey Adamczyk answers that it was agreed in Jakarta that ICFTU and WCL will express their specific values. “A foundation was also mentioned at that occasion.” He defended the note of Gabaglio as “just an element in the debate”.

It was under the guidance of the ACV/CSC Presidents Willy Peirens and Luc Cortebeeck that the WCL became a cofounder of the ITUC and the WCL disappeared from the international trade union history.

After some debate on the role of the Gabaglio note and the status of WCL as a Christian organization, ACV President Luc Cortebeeck, also President of the European Section, summarizes the discussion saying that not everyone agreed on everything and that there is no agreement on the Gabaglio note. He concludes that there is de CNV proposal in which the WCL continues to exist as a separate organization but cooperates with the ICFTU. Others wonder why the ETUC model is not possible on international level. Another important question is how to preserve a certain identity and how the cooperation will be organized in the new organization?

So it was decided that at the European Section of October 2004 a formal decision will be taken on how to proceed with the merger. The next step would be a formal decision taken by the Confederal Board, and after that a World Congress to ratify the decision taken (November 2005 in Houffalize, Belgium). For decision taking at the European Section, the Executive Committee presented at the October meeting 2004 the document “Recommendation by the Executive Committee to the Confederal Board“ with an introduction and annexes:

Annex I. “Proposal of a decision to be submitted to the Confederal Board”.

Annex II. “Elements that have emanated from the informal dialogue

1. Outline of a new international trade union confederation.

Annex III. “Elements that have emanated from the informal dialogue

2. First draft of the basic principles for a new international trade union confederation.

The CNV proposal was only worked out for Europe. The proposal had not a chance. It was presented to late and without to few convincing power.

Al these papers have already been spoken of in foregoing blogs. What remains is “Annex IV. Alternative CNV proposal.” In a note attached to the annex, CNV President Doekle Terpstra writes that “a CNV working group has been discussing the future of the WCL and possible more intense co-operation between the WCL and the ICFTU for the last month. The working group has presented a proposal to the Executive Board of the CNV, which has been approved unanimously on the 15th of March 2004.”

CNV was one of the founders of WCL and had a long tradition of supporting WCL. Here we see on the first row, third from left Arie Hordijk, who dedicated a lot of his time as Secretary General of CNV to the WCL. At the end of his CNV career he became President of EZA (European centre for Workers)

Instead of a merger, the CNV had worked out the idea of closer cooperation between the two international organizations by introducing a so-called “World Level Secretariat”. This secretariat had to coordinate the common activities of WCL, ICFTU, the International Trade Federations of both sides and TUAC. Meanwhile, both WCL and ICFTU would maintain their own secretariats, as well as the other organizations involved. The reason for this more elaborated model for cooperation was that CNV wanted to maintain by all means the WCL as an independent, autonomous world organization for the sake of international trade union pluralism and identity bound trade unionism.

But unfortunately we must conclude that the CNV proposal had no real chance. ACV/CSC had prepared already for a long time the merger with ICFTU. It was just waiting for the right moment and the right ICFTU leadership. It seemed that the CNV leadership was overtaken by the events. The presentation of the proposal itself was somewhat amateurish, clumsy and naive. Even at the meetings itself, none of the CNV confederal leadership was present. Also unconvincing was the lack of any kind of financial outline for the proposal.

Such a financial outline could have given rise to a thorough discussion on the financial priorities of the WCL. During many years before, there have been lengthy debates on the affiliation fees but without result. In particular the continents tried to escape time after time from an increase of contributions. It seemed that they saw the WCL mainly as a one-direction road for international solidarity. The other side of the problem, that is to bring political priorities in accordance with financial possibilities, was never well debated. This should have been an important task set for the treasurer and the financial commission of the WCL. One of the reasons this debate was never really implemented, because ACV / CSC was always ready in one way or another to absorb the budget deficits. Therefore ACV / CSC had become far away the biggest sponsor of WCL This was apparently taken for granted by the other members.

In 1992 a delegation of the CNV Trade Union for Industrial Workers visited Paraguay and Brazil. From left to right: Doekle Terpstra, Wim van der Jagt( treasurer), Pedro Parra and Frits Hanko (persident). Shortly after this trip Doekle Terpstra became president of the trade union. From 1999 until 2005 he was President of the CNV Confederation. Under his presidency CNV could not prevent the WCL was merged with the ICFTU into the ITUC.

Such a debate would also have made clear that the merger proposal was related to the fact that also ICFTU and its International Trade Secretariats were in need of money because of losing members. Such a debate was and is avoided in all trade unions world wide but this is what happens. Trade Unions worldwide are losing members and therefore money and this makes it more difficult to maintain heavy bureaucratic structures and costly international formal and informal meetings. During the merger talks this point came up but only as a formal point not as as a real point of debate. Talks were all about unity because of globalization and the ongoing neoliberal policies worldwide.

Another alternative would have been to agree with the merger under the condition that former WCL members within the new international organization could make their own groupe, fraction, platform or tendency. This model exists for example in the Austrian trade union confederation ÖGB with the formal groupings of socialist, christian and communist members. It is not an easy model to handle because it requires a fundamental democratic attitude and respect towards minorities. But such a model would have been a very good example of democracy on international level.

But the WCL leadership talked only vaguely about “identity guarantees” in the new organization: “The setting up of an appropriate instrument, internal to the new confederation open to all must make it possible to preserve the heritage of the WCL” (introduction to the “Recommendation by the Executive Committee to the Confederal Board) In annex II we read the following about this question: “The WCL is however the heir of an historical component of the trade union movement rooted into spiritual values and vision. To recognize this unique reality and to preserve its influence a Foundation could be created, within the organization, and whose cultural and education activities could be benefitting to all interested partners.” As in previous debates those proposals were unclear and vague and as a result they disappeared from the merger- agenda.

The result of the inadequate presentation of alternatives was that the debate was ultimately limited to the question "for or against the merger." Polish Solidarnosc was for the merger talks. The Luxembourg LCGB rejected the CNV proposal and supported the merger. The Maltese CMTU supported the CNV proposal. The Spanish USO supported the merger proposal. The French CFTC supported the CNV proposal because of the importance of the spiritual dimensions in trade union action. NKOS (Slovakia) supported the CNV proposal. The Hungarian Munkastanscok explained that their affiliation to WCL was a well conscious choice because they did not want to sit together with ex-communist organizations even not after the more than ten years. In their view the ex communist trade unions want to maintain their monopoly. The Lithuanian confederation LDF spoke more or less the same words. Bask ELA/STV supported the merger like the Rumanian Cartel alfa confederation. ACV/CSC of course supported the merger. Serbian CATUS supports the merger as an answer to the globalization. Others (Bulgaria and Cyprus) express their doubts regarding the merger but recognize the presented documents as very valuable. The Austrian FCG has its doubts. The Ukranian VOST expressed strong doubts about the merger.

President Luc Cortebeeck summarized the problems and concluded that a majority of the members wanted to continue the negotiations of WCL with the ICFTU. From then on the train was on the rails and nobody could stop him anymore. Alea iacte est.

THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL (PART 14)

During the Confederal Board meeting in Bucharest, October 1992, host Bogdan Hossu, President of Cartel alfa, tells about the Romanian Revolution of December 1989 on a cemetery in Bucharest. In the wake of the revolution, 1,104 people died, 162 of these occurring in the protests that took place from 16 to 22 December 1989 and brought an end to the Ceauşescu regime and the remaining 942 in the riots before the seizure of power by a new political structure, the National Salvation Front.

My first WCL Confederal Board was in October 1992. This was held in Bucharest, in a typical Eastern European hotel with a cheap imitation 19th century decor that covered a soulless twentieth century architecture. I remember a much too large and high room in which we seemed to swim around. Typically Communist architecture designed to feel yourself small and insignificant as part of the megalomaniac power dreams of “great” leaders. The sharpest expression of this intimidation culture is the People's Palace built by dictator Ceausescu. It is a successful example of Romanian Stalinism. For its construction, including secret passage and a subsequent large-scale ranging boulevard for the high ranking Communists, entire neighborhoods including many churches of ancient Bucharest, were demolished.

Given the circumstances it was well organized by the trade union confederation Cartel alfa. For most members of the Confederal Board, this was their first encounter with Cartel alpha and post-communist Romania. A still messy Romania , but you could not blame the country and its people for this after forty years of Communist dictatorship. Romania was not different from the other post-communist countries. While Western Europe after World War II, thanks to the help and support of the Americans, soon became prosperous and got increasing individual freedom, Central and Eastern Europe moved in the opposite way: less individual freedom and growing poverty.

The Palace of the Parliament (Palatul Parlamentului) in Bucharest, Romania is a multi-purpose building containing both chambers of the Romanian Parliament. According to the World Records Academy, the Palace is the world's largest civilian building with an administrative function, most expensive administrative building and heaviest building. The Palace was designed by architect Anca Petrescu and nearly completed by the Ceaușescu regime as the seat of political and administrative power. Nicolae Ceaușescu named it the People's House (Casa Poporului), also known in English as the Palace of the People.

For me the Confederal Board was an opportunity to learn to know many leaders of unions affiliated to Cartel alpha as well as trade unionists from Asia (BATU) and Africa (ODSTA). The Latin Americans of CLAT I knew already a long time thanks to my work at CLAT Netherlands. I also had a brief encounter with Gerda Verburg of the CNV board, from then on she had the WCL in her portfolio. As always, she was not lacking in ambition and competitive spirit, I noticed early in the morning at breakfast. She had already made her morning run and invited me to go outside with her and explain in ten minutes how WCL worked. I've obviously done my best. At the urging of WCL President Willy Peirens I left before the end of the meeting for Brussels. As managing Director of the WCL Solidarity Foundation I should attend a meeting of World Solidarity, the organization for international development of ACW.

I knew Gerda from Tour d'Haii! an activity organized by the solidarity movement CLAT-Nederland in 1991 with the aim to collect money for the Haitian trade union. She won the Tour making 7 rounds of 30km each. After being a board member of CNV she became a member of the Dutch Parliament. From 2007 until 2010 she was Minister of Food and Agriculture. Since 2011 she is the permanent representative of the Dutch Government at the FAO in Rome.(Photo copied from Latin America, magazine of CLAT-Nederland, nr.5 1991)

In November, I was invited by the Christian Democratic Academy to give a lecture on a seminar in Budapest about the WCL and the trade union movement in Central and Eastern Europe. That gave me the opportunity to visit a number of Hungarian trade unions that maintained good contacts with WCL . The oldest contacts, before my time at the WCL, were with the Christian Trade Union Szamket led by Laszlo Lantzky. The official application for membership of the WCL was dated November 1991. However, there were many doubts about the nature, scope and significance of Szamket.

Especially the report of Günther Engelmayer of FCG / ÖGB, who in August had attended a seminar organized by Szamket, sowed doubts again. Engelmayer came to the conclusion that the confederation did not amount to a lot and that "Laszlo Lantzky's pride, ambition and poor ability to delegate" was not enough to build a movement of workers and activists.” He wrote that Lantzky lacked expertise and realism. During my visit Lantzky claimed that his confederation would have 40,000 members. He proudly told me that he was admitted as the 8th member of the Council of six confederations. This was indeed a certain recognition of his federation at national level.

The Council was established by the six main confederations in Hungary. They entered into a mutual agreement on the distribution of the assets of the former communist trade union unity SZOT . Szamket and the other " little " union Solidarity would also get some of the old possessions of the now defunct communist trade union confederation SZOT. An agreement on the distribution of union assets was important for their existence. Without possessions they would have little chance to survive, let alone develop. Voluntary membership and a culture of self-financing through membership dues payment as an expression of independence and autonomy, the basis for dignity of every worker and every self-respecting democratic trade union, was unknown in Communist times. The new trade unions had still to teach this culture to their members and that would certainly take time, so much time that most unions would have vanished before they were well and truly begun. Thanks to these former trade union assets like office buildings, leisure centers , training centers, hotels etc. they had more chance to survive.

After Lantzky I spoke with Judit Gulyas, president of the federation EDDSZ in the healthcare sector (about 100,000 members). She was also Vice President of EUROFEDOP, one of the WCL International Trade Union Federations. EDDSZ had recently joined EUROFEDOP along with two other unions (the Union of Hungarian Civil Servants' Federation with 70,000 members and the smaller Federation of Costum Officers). This expansion of EUROFEDOP was partly due to the EUROFEDOP Liaison Office located in Vienna, supported by the Federation of Public Servants GÖD affiliated to the ÖGB. Their liaison officer Erwin Kofler wrote in a report to the WCL Coordination Committee on Central and Eastern Europe on March 24, 1993 on activities in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, the former Soviet Union, Bulgaria and Lithuania. EUROFEDOP was the only WCL International Trade Federation with a liaison office for Central and Eastern Europe.

Imre Palkovics during a seminar in Budapest (1993)

My last appointment was with President Imre Palkovics and some members of the National Federation of Workers' Councils (MOSZ - Munkastanascok). We had already met in Prague during the European Forum. Then Palkovics indicated that he wanted to become a member of the WCL. On national level Workers' Councils was also a member of the Council or Trade Union Platform. The Confederation has a Christian Democratic signature but has also Social Democrats and Conservatives in its ranks. Using Workers' Councils as the basic structure, MOSZ indicated clearly that they consider themselves as heir to the Hungarian uprising or revolution of 1956.

Crowd surround a captured Russian tank during the anti-Communist revolution in Hungary, 1956. Hulton-Deutsch collection/Corbis. Photographer: Jack Esten

“In 1956 the Hungarians revolted against the communist regime. During the uprise workers' councils were formed within enterprises. It was a democratic movement which tried to act as a rival political power. Not only workers' initiatives was at stake, but also the Communist power monopoly as such (that is the core of the Communist Soviet model). When the party leadership promised to end the Communist power monopoly and announced the country's neutrality, Soviet troops invaded the country and shattered the revolt in a fortnight. The workers' councils none the less continued to function and to represent the ideas of resistance, but there functions were limited, while Communist party and union leadership were restored. In January 1957 the new government did not recognize the workers councils movement anymore. The workers' councils were then phased out.” (Floor Nelissen, Industrial democracy in Hungary on the right track?, Doctoral thesis political sciences, Nijmegen 1996 and Wikipedia)