THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 44 ( about Leo Tindemans)

From left to right: Leo Tindemans (Minister President of Belgium and President of the Christian Democratic People's Part EPP), Heiner Geissler (Secretary general of the German Christian democratic Party CDU) and Helmut Kohl (President of the CDU) during the first Congress of the EPP in Brussels in 1978.

Leo Tindemans recently deceased on December 26 at the age of 92. He has been twice Belgian prime minister (1974-1978). In the European elections of 1979 he received the highest number of preferential votes ever reached in the history of Belgium. From 1976 to 1986 he was chairman of the Christian Democratic European People's Party EPP. For ten years he was also a member of the European Parliament (1989 -1999).

What the Belgian and European Christian democratic politician Leo Tindemans has to do with the history of the WCL? Nothing really, but that's precisely the problem. Before the WCL Congress in Mauritius (1993), I contacted Tindemans - as requested by WCL General Secretary Carlos Custer- to ask him if he wanted to held a speech on the WCL seminar prior to the WCL Congress about the role and significance of the European Union for European workers and for the World in general. Also, the question was whether he wanted to support the WCL in obtaining European funds for the seminar in order to reduce the cost of the Congress.

State Funeral of the Belgian Politician Leo Tindemans on January 3, 2015 in Edegem, a village not far from the city of Antwerp.

I was surprised how easy it was to make an appointment with Tindemans. We had a pleasant conversation which showed that he wanted to cooperate with the WCL. I was glad with this result. This could be the start of the kind of work that by many people of the WCL was expected I would do after I was appointed as Confederal Secretary of WCL, namely to organize political and financial support for the WCL on European level. But when ACV / CSC chairman Willy Peirens, also WCL president, heard about these plans, to my surprise, he wanted to know nothing of further contacts with Tindemans. According to his staff (Peirens himself never talked with me about this) because in the past the ACV/CSC had several conflicts with him.

I believe this was an irrelevant argument because I did not speak Tindemans as a Belgian politician but as a very important European politician of a country that at that time also had the presidency of the European Union. Moreover, since when unions do not want to meet politicians with whom they have conflicts? Such an attitude destroys all possibilities of a social dialogue.

Apparently my arguments did not convince him. The ACV/CSC wanted no more contacts with Belgian politicians who played a role on European level. When later on also cooperation between WCL and EZA (Europäisch Zentrum Arbeitnehmer - European Center for Workers), which offers European subsidies for European seminars for workers, was blocked by the WCL President, it became clear to me that the WCL was cut off from every kind of political and financial support of the European Union. About why I had no idea. In the case of EZA this was very special and certainly remarkable because at that time CNV former General Secretary Arie Hordijk, a staunch ally of the WCL, was elected chairman of the EZA. Moreover, the ACW (the general Christian workers association of which ACV / CSC is the main organization) was a member of EZA and as such represented in the Executive Committee of EZA.

Why then this blockade? Had it something to do with my position at the WCL? Indeed, the ACV/ CSC had voted against my appointment to WCL Confederal Secretary on the WCL Executive Committee meeting in Gdansk, Poland (1991). Or was it possible that the ACV had made (secret) agreements about EZA and Europe with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)? It was well known that the ETUC opposed strongly the EZA, because in their view EZA received European subsidies that belonged to the ETUC. Or was it a political conflict because EZA was founded by Christian Democrats and as such was supported by the European Christian Democratic Party (EPP of which Leo Tindemans was an important member) while the ETUC majority was socialist oriented?Or was it possible that the ACV / CSC was blackmailed by ETUC that once the WCL would dare to interfere in European politics, Willy Peirens would lose his position as one of the directors of the ETUC?

Even more remarkable is that with the arrival of Willy Thys as Secretary General of the WCL, suddenly collaboration with the EZA was possible. Why this radical change in policy? That question was never answered. Maybe that once will be written also this chapter of the WCL history.

THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 37 (trade action paper WCL Secretary General Willy Thys)

Hans Brüning (right), Secretary general CNV and treasurer of the WCL together with Nebeyu Shone, Coördinator CNV Aktie Kom Over and World Solidarity in Senegal, April 1998.

To make support more concrete to the WCL International Trade Federations, the Dutch trade union confederation CNV sent on October 16, 1998 a letter to WCL Secretary General Willy Thys with the offer to fund a full-time Executive Secretary for the WCL Secretariat: "In the recent past, some Dutch unions (CNV Trade Union Wood- and Building, CNV Industries) indicated its willingness to invest in a (part-time) staff for the WCL Trade Action Secretariat. This willingness is still ongoing. In informal contacts I have pointed out the possibility of combining this job with general policy and / or study tasks for the WCL. In this way a full-time position may arise. "The letter was signed by Hans Bruning, CNV secretary general and treasurer of the WCL. However, for unknown reasons the letter did not get any follow-up at the WCL Secretariat.

In stead, shortly thereafter (January 23, 1999) Willy Thys himself published a paper titled “The Trade Union Action of the WCL”. It was a complete surprise. Nobody at the WCL Secretariat had been consulted, nor the presidents of the International Trade federations. It is highly unlikely that Willy Thys had not consulted somebody. The question therefore is, who's voice was also heard in this paper? Was it the voice of ACV/CSC President Willy Peirens, also WCL President?

When the paper was published, all attention immediately went to one sentence in the first paragraph called “Findings”: " I would like to point out that the Belgian trade union Energy and Chemicals is considering to stop its international membership in 2000." This meant that another Belgium trade union would leave the WCL, in this case the World Federation of Industrial Workers (WFIW). This was rejected straight forward by all parties involved. As Executive Secretary of the WFIW for many years, having good relations with its president Leo Dusoleil and all other members of the Board, I never had heard such kind of rumors. Then, what was the goal of this remark? To put the International Trade Federations with mostly Belgium Presidents further under pressure?

Willy Peirens (left) and Willy Thys in Vancouver at the World Congress of the ITUC, June 2010. See also the blog of Luc  Cortebeeck, at that time President of ACV/CSC.

Another one of his "findings" was that “the German speaking organizations find insufficient trade action on European level”. I suppose that he meant the Austrian trade union members of the ITF's. After all, the trade unions of the German Christian Trade Union Confederation CGB were tolerated as members of the ITF's but not considered as serious trade unions. The Austrian trade unions indeed were not satisfied with the WCL support to the ITF's. According to the Austrian trade unions the WCL Secretariat should give more service to the International Trade Federations for the amount of membership fee payed to the WCL. As an Executive Secretary for International Trade Action, I had communicated this complaint to the WCL Secretary General, however without any result. On the contrary, Willy Thys wanted that the Austrian Christian Fraction ÖGB/FCG paid more membership fee directly to the WCL, and as a consequence less to the International Trade Federations. This was not accepted, nor by the ÖGB/FCG, nor by its trade unions.

Farewell Party of Leo Dusoleil receiving a gift.

As regards the Belgium Energy and Chemicals Trade Union there had been rivalry between its President Fons van Genechten and Doekle Terpstra, President of the CNV Industrial Trade Union, on who would become the new President of the WFIW. Leo Dusoleil left the Presidency of the WFIW at the World Board meeting in Vienna. (june 1998). During a meeting with Fons van Genechten, I told him that I preferred Doekle Terpstra as President of the WFIW because it would involve CNV more in the WCL than ever before, which I believed was very important for the future of the WCL. Until then only one of the 8 International Trade Federations - the WFCW with President Roel Rotshuizen - had a President coming from CNV.

The new WFIW Board with all participants of the World Board. Sitting in the middle the newly elected President Doekle Terpstra (Netherlands). 

Doekle Terpstra was elected as President of the WFIW at the same World Board meeting in Vienna. His presidency might open new perspectives for the WFIW and the WCL. Doekle Terpstra was a strong and charismatic leader with a broader vision on the WCL than a sound financial policy. However, to my disappointment his presidency did not get time to consolidate because after already one year he became President of the confederation CNV. He left therefore the Presidency of the CNV Industrial Trade Union and therefore also of the WFIW. However, Terpstra came back to the wCL as member of the Executive Board. Jaap Wienen, the treasurer of the CNV Industrial trade union, succeeded him at the WFIW. It was the first step of Jaap Wienen towards a career in the WCL and later the ITUC.

The negative tone of the paper could also have been caused by the internal divisions of the ACV/CSC leadership over its policy on the ITF's. Since my arrival at the WCL, there was an ongoing internal debate on the highest levels of CSC/ACV on the International Trade Federations. Sometimes during certain meetings, I got an impression of this debate. Leaders from trade unions affiliated to ICFTU oriented international trade federations gave unjustified critical comments on WCL members. The most heard one was that the WCL regional organizations, especially CLAT, blockaded international cooperation.

Also several times, the Director of the CSC/CNV International Department Jan Dereymaker proposed some kind of deal about the International Trade Federations, a kind of in between solution that would give more room to the ACV/CSC trade unions to join the ICFTU oriented ITF's. I do not remember the details but I did not want to discuss the proposal because I believed still in the survival of the WCL. However, in retrospect it would have been wiser to have started the debate, because once when the question of the merger came out to its full extend, it appeared to late for this kind of debate.

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.