World Federation of Trade Unions Reports and Minutes on Microfilm, 1945-1949
Collection Number: 5396 mf

Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
World Federation of Trade Unions Reports and Minutes on Microfilm, 1945-1949
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5396 mf
Abstract:
Consists of selected materials from 1945 through 1949 microfilmed from the more extensive WFTU collection: 5595 World Federation of Trade Unions, 1945-1973.
Creator:
World Federation of Trade Unions
Quanitities:
0.22 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English, French

Biographical / Historical

The foundation of the World Federation of Trade Unions was laid at the World Labor Conference which met in London in February 1945. During the war period a spirit of cooperation had developed among world trade unions which could not find expression in the International Federation of trade Unions since the IFTU would not admit either the CIO or the Russians. The World Labor Conference proposed a reorganization of the IFTU to included these two groups, but the IFTU rejected it.
The Conference ended with the setting up of a Committee of Forty and a temporary Secretariat in Paris. A second conference was held in Paris in September and October of 1945 which set up a permanent body representing all affiliated national union centers, and created an Executive Committee, a small Executive Bureau and a General Secretary.
Trouble arose immediately when the WFTU then attempted to bring the International Trade Secretariats into its orbit, which was opposed by the AFL. The collection consists of minutes of meetings and documents issued during the period 1945-1949 when the Communist unions were attempting to take over control of the WFTU. This eventually resulted in the formation of the ICFTU.

Records consist of the microfilmed minutes, proceedings and reports of WFTU Executive Bureaus and Executive Committees, produced and presented at WFTU conferences held in Paris (1945, 1947, 1949); Moscow (1946); Prague (1947); Rome (1948); San Francisco and Washington (1973).
Governance records (1945-1973) include minutes, resolutions and proceedings of the WFTU Executive Bureau, General Councils, and committees (1945-1973) and of joint meetings of the WFTU and International Trade Secretariats (1948); also financial statements of the WFTU (1945-1949).
Reports and publications (1946-1949) consist mainly of unpublished reports and some pamphlets produced and presented at the annual sessions of the Executive Bureau and General Councils of the WFTU; also reports pertaining to special policies and activities of the WFTU. Materials pertaining to the WFTU's internal organization discuss or document the creation of WFTU international trade departments and negotiations between WFTU and International Trade Secretariats (1948). Also include documents regarding relations between the WFTU and the United Nations, International Labour Organization, Congress of Industrial Organizations, American Federation of Labor, and Allied Commission (Berlin); and various conferences, including the Pan Asiatic Trade Union Conference, and the World Trade Union Congress (1948-1949).
Also, WFTU policy statements regarding union activity and socioeconomic conditions in Occupied Germany; Mexico and Latin America (1948); activities in Japan, and Portugal (1948).
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference archivist for access to these materials.
Conditions Governing Use

This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and Procedures for Document Use.

INFORMATION FOR USERS

Preferred Citation

World Federation of Trade Unions Reports and Minutes on Microfilm #5396 mf. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

Related Materials

Related Collections: 5256: Adolph Germer Papers 5595: World Federation of Trade Unions Records

SUBJECTS

Names:
Blum, Leon, 1872-1950
Carey, James B.
Germer, Adolph.
Green, William, 1870-1952.
Jouhaux, Leon, 1879-1954.
Krane, Jay
Kunetsov, V. V.
Morse, Wayne
Murray, Philip, 1886-1952.
Rostovsky, S.
Saillant, Louis
Santi, Fernando
Vivimari, R
Allied Commission
American Federation of Labor
Congress of Industrial Organizations (U.S.)
International Labour Organisation
United Nations
World Federation of Trade Unions
Subjects:
Denazification
Economic assistance, American
Emigration and immigration
Employee rights
Equal pay for equal work
Foreign trade and employment
International economic relations
International labor activities
Labor unions -- Egypt
Labor unions -- Japan
Labor unions -- Austria
Labor unions -- Burma
Labor unions -- Europe
Labor unions -- Germany (East)
Labor unions -- Germany (West)
Labor unions -- Greece
Labor unions -- Iran
Labor unions -- Israel
Labor unions -- Italy -- Trieste
Labor unions -- Italy
Labor unions -- Palestine
Labor unions -- Political activity
Labor unions -- Portugal
Labor unions -- South Africa
Labor unions -- Southeast Asia
Labor unions -- Spain
Labor unions -- Tunisia
Labor unions -- Vietnam
Monopolies
Nuclear warfare -- Social aspects
Race discrimination
Reconstruction (1939-1951) -- Europe
Social security
Women -- Employment
World politics
Youth -- Employment
Anti-unionism.
Coal mining industry. Europe.
Collective bargaining. Professions.
Labor and laboring classes. Socioeconomic status.
Steel industry. Europe.
Trade-union solidarity.
Trade-unions. Agricultural workers. International cooperation.
Trade-unions. Coal-miners. International cooperation.
Trade-unions. Foresters. International cooperation.
Trade-unions. Metal-workers. International cooperation.
Trade-unions. Miners. International cooperation.
Trade-unions. Textile workers. International cooperation.
Workers' education.
Czechoslovakia -- Politics and government -- 1945-

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Reel 1
Reports an Minutes of the Sessions of the Executive Bureau and Executive Committee of the World Federation of Trade Unions.
Reel 1 1
Proces-Verbal des 2me et 3me Session due Comite Administratif in Washington, DC and San Francisco
1945
Scope and Contents
82 pp. April 17 - May 4, 1945. In French
Reel 1 2
Session of the Executive Bureau held in Washington, DC
1946
Scope and Contents
80 pp plus 10 pp. September 1946. Held in the offices of the CIO.
Reel 1 3
Session of the Executive Committee held in Prague
1947
Scope and Contents
43 pp plus 5 pp. June 1947.
Reel 1 4
Session of the Executive Bureau held in Paris
1947
Scope and Contents
116 pp plus 3 pp. November 18-24, 1947. Held at the headquarters of the WFTU.
Reel 1 5
Session of the Executive Bureau held in Rome
1948
Scope and Contents
61 pp. April 30 - May 2, 1948.
Reel 1 6
Session of the Executive Bureau held in Rome
1948
Scope and Contents
63 pp. April 30 - May 2, 1948.
Reel 1 7
Session of the Executive Committee held in Rome
1948
Scope and Contents
136 pp plus 9 pp. May 5 -10, 1948.
Reel 1 8
Session of the Executive Bureau held in Paris
1948
Scope and Contents
91 pp plus 14 pp. September 17-21, 1948.
Reel 1 9
Summary Record of the Meeting of the Executive Bureau in Paris
1948
Scope and Contents
September 17-21, 1948. 72 pp.
Reel 1 10
Point 7 of the Draft Agenda
1948
Scope and Contents
Report on the Trade Union Situation in Germany. 26 pp.
Reel 1 10
Item 14 of the Agenda
1948
Scope and Contents
Rate of Affiliation Fees for certain National Centres. 6 pp.
Reel 1 10
Item 12 of the Draft Agenda
1948
Scope and Contents
Communication from the General Secretary on the Trade Union Situation in Mexico and Latin America. 9 pp. In French
Reel 1 10
Item 3 of the Draft Agenda
1948
Scope and Contents
Note on the Decisions and Correspondence concerning a Pan-Asiatic Trade Union Conference. 5 pp.
Reel 1 10
Item 3 of the Draft Agenda
1948
Scope and Contents
Suggestions Submitted by the Executive Bureau concerning the Fact-Finding Commission and the Pan-Asiatic Trade Union Conference.4 pp
Reel 1 10
Item 4 of the Draft Agenda
1948
Scope and Contents
Report on the Seventh Session of the Economic and Social Council. 31 pp.
Reel 1 10
Item 9 of the Draft Agenda
1948
Scope and Contents
Information Concerning the work of members of the Commission of Enquiry to Japan. 5 pp.
Reel 1 10
Item 10 of the Draft Agenda
1948
Scope and Contents
Draft Decision on Civic and Trade Union Liberties in India. 1 p.
Reel 1 10
Item 12 of the Draft Agenda
1948
Scope and Contents
The Trade Union Situation in Portugal (Letter received by the World Federation of Trade Unions Secretariat). 6 pp.
Reel 1 11
Session of the Executive Bureau held in Paris
1949
Scope and Contents
January 17-19, 1949.
Reel 1 11
C.I.O. notes by Jay Krane
1949
Scope and Contents
34 pp. Loose papers omitted.
Reel 1 11
Statement by James B. Carey
1949
Scope and Contents
6 pp. Loose papers omitted.
Reel 1 11
Statement by V. V. Kunetsov
1949
Scope and Contents
15 pp. Loose papers omitted.
Reel 1 12
Session of the Executive Bureau in Paris
1949
Scope and Contents
January 17-22, 1949. Loose papers omitted.
Reel 1 13
Session of the Executive Committee in Paris
1949
Scope and Contents
January 28 - February 1, 1949. 167 pp plus 16 pp.
Reel 2
The Administration and Finances of the World Federation of Trade Unions.
Reel 2 14
Session of the Executive Bureau and Executive Committee in Moscow
1946
Scope and Contents
June 17-25, 1946. Report on the Internal Organization of Departments of the World Federation of Trade Unions. 9 pp.
Reel 2 15
Session of the Executive Bureau held in Paris
1946
Scope and Contents
December 10, 1946. Financial Statement and Balance from October 1, 1945 until September 30, 1946. Budget estimates for the year 1947.
Reel 2 16
Executive Committee and General Council in Prague
1947
Scope and Contents
June, 1947. Financial Reports and Statements of Auditors.
Reel 2 17
October 1, 1945 through September 30, 1946
1945-1946
Scope and Contents
5 pp.
Reel 2 18
October 1, 1946 through March 31, 1947
1946-1947
Scope and Contents
3 pp.
Reel 2 19
Appendix
Reel 2 20
Session of the Executive Bureau and Executive Committee in Rome
1948
Scope and Contents
April 30 - May 10, 1948. Financial Statement and Balance Sheet from October 1, 1946 until September 30, 1948 and from October 1, 1947 until March 31, 1948. Draft Budget for 1948. 24 pp