THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 53 (trade action)

The Board of the World Federation of Industrial Workers at the 4th WFIW Congress held in Doorn, Netherlands, March 2000. WFIW President Jaap Wienen (in the middle) became after the merger of WCL and ICFTU Deputy Secretary General of the ITUC. Before the merger he was WCL Deputy Secretary General charged with Trade Action. To the right of the photo Leon Vanhaudt, WFIW treasurer. Next to him WFIW Secretary general Fons van Genechten.  On the left of the photo Executive Secretary Piet Nelissen. Next to him WFIW Vice President Carlos Gaitan.

The last and most difficult problem for the WCL was the question about what to do with the International Trade Federations (ITF's) during the merger of the WCL and the ICFTU into a new international organisation? One would expect that Deputy Secretary General Jaap Wienen, charged with Trade Action within the WCL secretariat, together with the Presidents of the ITF's had come to a certain kind of common strategy but this was not so much the case. 

The WCL discussion paper limits itself to conclude that “the WCL and the ICFTU Trade Action structures are quite different.” It says that “the WCL Federations -although autonomous in the management of their sectoral policy – are affiliated to the WCL, pay dues and have the right to vote in the Congress and the Confederal Board. Likewise, a vice-president representing Trade Action is elected by the Congress. He chairs the CTA (Trade Action Committee consisting of the presidents of the ITF's) and the WCTA (the World Trade Action Committee) meetings. Within the General Secretariat, there exists a Deputy Secretary General in charge of coordinating Trade Action and fostering the links between the ITF's and the other WCL departments.” (paragraph 3.1).

“Within the ICFTU, the ITS (International Trade Secretariats) are completely independent. They pay no dues to the ICFTU and have no right to vote within the decision-making bodies, where they do participate as observers. A couple of years ago, an informal agency called Global Unions was created. It frequently gathers ICFTU and ITS representatives in order to foster coordination among them.” (paragraph 3.2) 

They have also an informal coordination agency: the Global Union Federations (GUF's): “The GUF's are powerful organisations (146 million members), both at the political and financial levels. Sometimes they devise their own inter-trade policy, something that is aberrant in an increasingly globalized economy.” (paragraph 3.3)

In the paper it is said that these ITS's“despite their independency, they follow the ICFTU stand.” Therefore it is not surprising that “the affiliation of national trade federations coming from confederations with no international affiliation ( of France's CGT 12 sectors out of 32 are affiliated to the GUF's) often paves the way for ICFTU membership.” (paragraph 3.4).

The World Congress of the World Federation of Building and Woodworkers WFBW was held in Varna, Bulgaria in may 2004 with 77 delegates from 33 different countries all over the world. 

Years ago trade unions of the ACV-CSC and CNV had already left WCL: “after the 1980's, the trade federations of Belgium CSC (metal, employee, food, some transport sectors, culture) and Holland's CNV (food, metal) left the ITF's and joined the ITS, so as to strengthen their actions, especially vis-à-vis multinational companies.” It is very sad to read that “this evolution mainly led to the marginalisation of the WFAFW (WCL's World Federation for Agricultural and Food Workers), which could not afford deploying its action within the agricultural sector, which is a basic activity in developing countries and where male and female workers are particularly exploited.” (note 8 in the paper)

We can conclude that already since the 1980's the WCL was weakened because of the departure of ACV-CSC and CNV trade federations from the ITF's and their affiliation to the ITS. In a broader sense they became part of the ICFTU policy.

Now, the lack of a clear common vision and coordination between WCL and the ITF's led to a certain kind of divide and rule policy by the ITS's. While the WCL negotiated the merger it left its ITF's without real support.

The first ITF that started to negotiate about a possible merger was the World Confederation of Teachers (WCT) that, as far as I know, tried indeed to establish within Education International (EI) a special WTC platform. At the beginning of the negotiations it was told that such an arrangement of a WCT platform within EI was possible but after a while this possibility for whatever reason disappeared. Now, about 10 years later, there is no sign whatsoever on the EI website that there ever existed a WCT.

With the merger talks in the wood and building sector, between the WFBW and the IFBW, happened more or less the same. The core idea was to safeguard the WCL heritage (see The Downfall of the WCL 48) by way of a special foundation within the new world organisation.

Board members of the Latin American Federation of Industrial and Construction Workers FLATIC. From left to right: Domingo Moreyra, Carlos Gaitan (president), Miriam Berlak, Vicente Carrera and Rolando Arias. June 2004.

The WFBW World Congress in Varna, Bulgaria on the 20^th of May 2004 decided to continue with the merger talks. “During the Congress and the seminar it was agreed to continue the process of unity in a new World Sectorial Federation, which allows to participate more strongly at the negotiation tables and agreements with multilateral agencies that impact politics and global economy and multinational companies, who are the ones that impose the economic, productive, and technological conditions of incorporation, investment, employees and consumption. The participation in this United Federation will be based on our identity and participation with the WCL and its regional organisations. Also should be allowed the continuation of national and regional diversity and respect for local particularities.” ( Nueva Epoca, revista de FLATIC, Ano XVIII-No.90, Junio de 2004, page 5)

But there were also some critical remarks made by president Carlos Gaitan of FLATIC (Federacion latinoamericana de Trabajadores de las Industrias y la Construccion): “The procedures onto unity so far has been only European, without sufficient consultation with the other Continents. We believe more participation, information and consultation of the affiliates is essential.” (Nueva Epoca, page 5). The Swiss trade union SYNA represented by treasurer Werner Rindlisbacher was opposed to the merger. 

The BWI website refers to the merger of IFBWW and WFBW. However, a foundation dedicated to the WCL/WFBW heritage does not exist.

“At its World Congress in Buenos Aires, on 9 December 2005, the International Federation of Building and Wood Workers (IFBWW) and the World Federation of Building and Wood Workers (WFBW) created a new global union federation, the Building and Wood Workers' International - BWI. The BWI is the Global Union Federation grouping free and democratic unions with members in the Building, Building Materials, Wood, Forestry and Allied sectors. The BWI groups together around 326 trade unions representing around 12 million members in 130 countries. The Headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland. Regional Offices and Project Offices are located in Panama and Malaysia, South Africa, India, Burkina Faso, Curaçao, Chile, Kenya, Russia, Peru, Brazil and Thailand.”

The World Federation of Industrial Workers WFIW decided on its World Congress in Dakar, Senegal (July 2005) to start negotiations with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions ICEM in Brussels. The French CFTC Metal Union and the German CMG Metal Union voted against it. Because the WFIW had no powerful affiliates in terms of money and members like the WFBW with its powerful member ACV-CSC Building and Industries and to a certain extent also CNV Wood and Construction, the negotiations were limited to a collective affiliation.

President Reinhardt Schiller of the German Metal Union CGM together with the CFTC Metal Union refused to support the integration of WFIW in the ICEM. After the merger between WCL and ICFTU the CGM became a member of the World Organization of Workers WOW ( the former World Confederation of Clerical Workers WFCW). Photo taken in Vienna 2012 at the board meeting of the European Organization of WOW 

The German CGM refused the invitation made by WFIW President Bart Bruggeman to be part of this collective affiliation. CGM President Reinhardt Schiller did not believe that it is possible to have a fair cooperation with the socialist trade unions. According to his view, at the start you get some qualified positions but after a few years the majority will go back to business as usual which means that as a minority must follow socialist policies.

The WFIW Board at the Dissolution Congress, June 2007. 

From left to right: Justin Daerden; Carlos Gaitan (Vice-President); Italo Rodomonti (Secretary General); Bart Bruggeman (President); Manfred Warda (ICEM); Achille Dutu and Romuald Nuwopke.

On the website of the International Federation 'Industriall' you find the following text on the WFIW Dissolution Congress:

"The World Federation of Industry Workers (WFIW) held its Dissolution World Congress in Houffalize, Belgium, on 14 June 2007. The 80 participants at this historic meeting, from 25 countries, unanimously took the decision to integrate the WFIW structures into the ICEM, a process which will be finalised at the ICEM's 4th World Congress in November 2007 in Bangkok.

The WFIW is one of the International Trade Federations formerly affiliated to the World Confederation of Labour (WCL), the international trade union confederation which, together with the former ICFTU, recently merged to create the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

The Dissolution Congress, with ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda present, was just one step in a longer process to prepare the WFIW’s integration into the ICEM.(...) WFIW General Secretary Italo Rodomonti said he strongly believes that “after the integration of the WFIW members into the ICEM, pluralism within the international trade union confederation will form a firm basis for a stronger international trade union federation.” The Dissolution Congress elected Italo Rodomonti, as well as Achille Dutu from Romania, as future ICEM Presidium members. Brazil's Wilson Wanderlei Viera and Alphonse Beya Tshimbu from the Democratic Republic of Congo were elected to become ICEM Executive Committee members."

THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 31 (INTERNATIONAL TRADE FEDERATIONS)

Dirk Uyttenhoven (standing right) was elected at the WCL Congress in 1993 as Executive Secretary of the WCL Trade Action Secretariat. I was already working at the WCL since the 1 of January 1992. Sitting are Kelfallah (left) and Gbessy, both staff members of the DOAWTU training and education centre FOPADESC in Lomé, Togo.  CNV Aktie Kom Over made financially possible the African Trade Action secretariat.  The picture has been made in December 1995 during an official visit at the WCL Trade Action Secretariat in Brussels.

Looking for an answer to the weakening of the WCL International Trade Federations ITF's as the result of switching of strong European WCL trade unions towards the Global Unions (Food, Metal and UNI), the WCL Congress in Mauritius (1993) decided to strengthen its Secretariat for Trade Action STA. Hence Dirk Uyttenhoven, from the department of education and training of the Belgian ACV Textile and Clothing trade union, was elected on the Congress as a full-time Executive Secretary of the STA. From then on the STA had about one and a half Executive Secretaries.

The regional seminar and Congress of FELATRABS, the Latin American Federation of Bank and Insurance Workers, was my first experience as Executive Secretary of the WFCW. It was held in september 1995 at the Workers University UTAL in San Antonio de los Altos, Venezuela. 

The presidents of the International Trade Federations ( ITF 's ) considered one and a half full-time Executive Secretaries as insufficient . Therefore, the Commission for Trade Action CTA (consisting of the presidents of the ITF's and the General Secretary of the WCL ) talked for over a year about a 'Protocol for Trade Action' . After one and a half year , such a Protocol was signed by WCL General Secretary Carlos Custer and President of the Commission Trade Action CTA Michel Bovy. It was agreed that the Secretariat would consist of two full-time Executive Secretaries , one full-time and one part-time administrative assistant . The WCL would provide logistical support to the Trade Action Secretariat such as translations, accounting, printing, office, etc. Meanwhile EUROFEDOP / INFEDOP (public services) kept his full-time General Secretary in the person of Bert van Caelenberg, who had his own small, fully equipped secretariat, separated of the WCL Trade Secretariat. The WCT (teachers) replaced in the course of time its retired General Secretary Roger Denis (who was also functioning more or less as a WCL Confederal Secretary) by the full-time delegate Gaston De La Haye as Secretary general.

WFCW President Roel Rotshuizen (right) with Nebeyu Shone, head of the CNV Aktie Kom Over and World Solidarity Liaison office for Africa, in Cotonou, Benin in February 1996. It was the first official visit of a WFCW delegation to the African continent, visiting trade unions of clerical, banking and commercial workers in Benin, Togo and Ghana. The goal of the visit was to support the foundation of the regional African trade union federation for employees FPE.

The full-time administrative assistant was contracted, but otherwise everything remained the same because of lack of money and possibilities and so the Executive Secretaries had to improvise in time and prioritization. Also in the field of cooperation between the International Federations and the WCL everything remained the same. The International Federations went on as before, without much more cooperation and policy coordination with the WCL. Sometimes this brought tensions between the WCL Secretariat and the Trade Action Secretariat but thanks to the benevolent attitude of general secretary Carlos Custer relations remained good.

The Asian Regional Federation ABCW (Asian Brotherhood of Clerical Workers) was founded with support of BATU, the WFCW, CNV Aktie Kom Over and Necie Lucero as President of a Banking Union in the Phillipines. This picture has been taken in the year 1996.

A special case was the International Federation for Agriculture and Food trade unions FEMTAA. The switch of the CNV and ACV food trade unions from FEMTAA towards the Global Union UITA, had as a consequence that FEMTAA henceforth only existed in name. WCL General Secretary Carlos Custer found this unacceptable because of the importance of the agricultural sector in Third World Countries. He invited the former trade union leader José Gomez Cerda from the Dominican Republic, who lived for family reasons in Belgium, to rebuild the FEMTAA on a volontary basis. At the request of Carlos Custer the Trade Action Secretariat supported this attempt to revive the FEMTAA as much as possible.

In March 1995 a seminar and World Congress was held in the UTAL, San Antonio de los Altos, Venezuela with the aim to reconstruct the FEMTAA. Second from left José Gomez Cerda who was elected as Secretary General of FEMTAA. 

Thanks to the efforts of Jose Gomez was held what you might call a rebuilding World Congress of FEMTAA in March 1995 in the Workers University UTAL, San Antonio de los Altos, Venezuela. At the Congress José Gomez Cerda was elected as General Secretary. The former CFTC President Guy Drillaud (France) was elected President of FEMTAA. During the World Congress, the newly joined food workers trade union of Cartel alfa, led by chairman Adrian Cojocaru, was prepared to support the FEMTAA with a significant annual contribution. However, this was not sufficient for financing the costs of the secretariat and the necessary activities, with the result an ongoing search for additional funds.

Photo of all the participants on the FEMTAA Seminar and World Congress, march 1995, UTAL San Antonio de los Altos, Venezuela.

Through organizations such as CNV Aktie Kom Over, World Solidarity, the WCL Solidarity Fund and the ILO, various activities could be funded. But it was much more difficult or virtually impossible to fund the Secretariat in Brussels. One solution could be to move the FEMTAA secretariat to one of the continents. The most obvious was to move it towards Latin America where CLAT had built a solid infrastructure with the Workers University UTAL in San Antonio near the Venezuelan capital Caracas. For unknown reasons, CLAT did not support this proposal with the result that the FEMTAA secretariat continuously had budget deficits, which had to be completed with the help of international institutions for solidarity and/or international development.

Meanwhile, the continental organizations BATU (Asia), CLAT (Latin America) and DOAWTU (Africa) contributed to the strengthening of their existing regional trade federations or supporting the creation of a new federation . Of course the ITF's contributed to this, each in its own way and according to its available resources. Thanks to a special trade action program of CNV Aktie Kom Over and project-support of World Solidarity funds were available . However, the question of the autonomy of the regional federations was never worked out . For the International Federations the regional trade federations were independent, autonomous members with their own structures, programs, funds etc . In contrast, the continental confederations BATU, CLAT and DOAWTU were somewhat reluctant to accept the idea of independent and autonomous trade federations. They insisted on a more centralized policy and decision-making procedures. However a profound strategic discussion of this important issue never got off the ground . The two sides, the ITF's and the continental organizations, made ​​the best of it and that was what it was.

THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 30 (The International Trade Federations)

This picture has been taken during the 100 year CMV anniversary in Duisburg, Germany in October 1999. It shows part of the European network in which the CGM was and is operating. We see WFIW President Jaap Wienen (now dep. secretary general ITUC) and  his successor WFIW President Bart Bruggeman, both from the CNV  Bedrijvenbond. Rolf Weber from KRIFA was also present. We see also former CGM President Siegfried Ehret.

The International Trade Action of the WCL has a complicated history because of the diversity of its actors. The 8 International Trade Federations (ITF's) - WFCW ( banking, insurance and other private sector services) , WFEW ( education) , INFEDOP / EUROFEDOP (officials in public service) , WFIW (industrial workers ) , WFCW (construction & wood) , IFTC ( textile workers ) , FEMTAA ( agriculture and food ) and FIOST (transport and communication workers) had a life of their own with their own statutes, world congress, world board etc. The finances came for the most part of their European members. In some ITF's, mostly Belgian , Dutch and French trade unions paid high dues, in others also members from Austria , Germany , Canada and Denmark .

On the other hand, the ITF's paid also dues to the the WCL in proportion to the number of members. This structural bond with WCL led to a certain degree of centralized policy or should I say more euphemistically a policy of coordination. The ITF's maintained a lot of autonomy and did not always accept the common strategy of the WCL. You could say that there was a certain kind of anarchy which was more or less supervised by the WCL.

For example, the ITF's ignored the new member policy of the WCL. While the WCL refused to allow the German Christian Trade union Confederation CGB and the Danish Trade Union Confederation KRIFA to the WCL, members of these confederations were welcome at the WFIW, the WFCW, the IFTC and EUROFEDOP. This meant that in this way, the WCL International Trade Federations still guaranteed a certain trade union pluralism in Europe. In the meantime both confederations mentioned here were fiercely attacked by the social-democratic oriented trade unions in their country.

This picture of the European Council of the WFCW gives an idea of the European WFCW Network with members of many European countries. 1.Krifa President Stig Mogens (Denmark),2. Ernst Gfrerrer FCG-GPA(Austria) 3. WFCW Treasurer Charles Steck (Swiss), 4.  FCG-GPA President Walter Zwiehauer (Austria), 5.  Secretary General FCG-GPA Richard Paiha (Austria), 6. EO/WFCW President Ivo Psenner (Austria), 7. DHV President Jorge Hebsacker (Germany)

In Germany, the mighty German trade union confederation DGB fed the rumor that CGB members are not only conservative but would even have a Nazi past. The attacks were also structural. IG Metall ( affiliated to the DGB) tried to get the Christian Metal Trade Union CGM (affiliated to CGB) to its knees by challenging in court again and again that they had no right to sign collective agreements in companies like Volkswagen, Audi etc. At last the CGM got justice, but at a high price because of the high costs of litigation in terms of money and energy.

The Danish social democratic LO not only portrayed the Danish Christian Trade Union Confederation KRIFA as a conservative trade union but also as an anti – trade union because they would not recognize the right to strike. Indeed, KRIFA does not consider the strike as a weapon in the fight for better working conditions but that does not mean that they deny other trade unions the right to strike . That 's a nuance that was lost in the struggle for trade union monopoly by the LO .

The Danish Social Democratic LO also put pressure on the leadership of the Belgian ACV by pointing out that admission of the Danish KRIFA into the WCL would affect the position of the Belgium Christian Trade Union Confederation ACV in the European Trade Union ETUC. At a meeting of the WCL European Section (October 1996) ACV chairman Willy Peirens, also WCL president, vetoed the affiliation of KRIFA to the WCL because of its anti-strike position. Meanwhile in its own country KRIFA had to compete against the "pre-entry closed shop system" (“A pre-entry closed shop is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times in order to remain employed.”) that was used by LO Denmark and through which members of KRIFA were excluded from jobs.

Picture of a board meeting of the European Organization of the World Organzation of Workers (the former WFCW in the WOW office in Brussels (2012). From left to right: FCG GPA President Wolfgang Pischinger (Austria) , BOFOS President Mara Erdelj (Serbia), CGM President Adalbert Ewen (Germany), WFCW treasurer Rolf Weber (Denmark), WOW Executive Secretary Bjorn van Heusden (Netherlands), WOW President Roel Rotshuizen (Netherlands), Former CGM President Reinhardt Schiller, EO/WOW President Guenther Trausznitz (Austria).

The trade union monopoly of the LO Denmark is mainly based on this principle of pre-entry closed shop, that dates back to the early industrial era and is based on the idea that the employer is by nature the enemy of his employees. The KRIFA premise and that of other Christian unions does not agree with this idea. Employers and employees in a company can indeed have opposing interests but ultimately both have a common interest in the survival of the company. After much social struggle this idea has become the heart for what we call now "the Social Dialogue" After a lot of court precedents in Denmark, KRIFA was upheld by the European Court of Human Rights in Strassbourg, which ruled that the pre-entry closed shop is contrary to Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights:

Article 11 – Freedom of assembly and association

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

2. No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights other than such as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. This article shall not prevent the imposition of lawful restrictions on the exercise of these rights by members of the armed forces, of the police or of the administration of the State.
( See: EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS , 11.1.2006 ,Press release issued by the Registrar , GRAND CHAMBERJUDGMENT SØRENSEN & RASMUSSEN v. DENMARK ).

However, the ruling of the European Court did not end the conflict with the LO Denmark. Trade union members of LO Denmark continue to try to force members of KRIFA to leave their job by bullying.

In practice this meant that the WCL was blocked to affiliate potential new Western European members what de facto meant a weakening of the WCL. So the European trade union unity started slowly but surely to ask its price from the Christian trade unions. Meanwhile some ITF's were also weakened by the departure of strong European members in order to become a member of the social-democratic oriented International Trade Union Federations.