The International Federation of Tobacco Workers (IFTW) was a

global union federation A global union federation (GUF) is an international federation of national trade unions organizing in specific industry sectors or occupational groups. Historically, such federations in the social democratic tradition described as international t ...

bringing together unions representing workers involved in growing, processing or selling tobacco.

History

The idea of an international federation of tobacco workers arose in the 1880s in the Belgian and Dutch unions, which tried to interest the German Tobacco Workers' Union in participating. In 1889, a conference was held in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

between the unions, and in 1890, the federation was launched. It was based in Antwerp until 1910, then in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, but became moribund during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was refounded in 1918, and the headquarters were moved to Amsterdam. By 1925, the federation had 25 affiliates, with a total of 118,000 members. This then fell, and by 1935, it had only 42,000 members, in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. In 1958, the federation merged into the

International Union of Food and Drinks Workers' Associations The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF) is a global union federation of trade unions with members in a variety of industries, many of which relate to food processin ...

, which renamed itself as the "International Union of Food, Drinks and Tobacco Workers' Associations", although some of its affiliates preferred instead to join the new Plantation Workers International Federation.Docherty, J. C., and Jacobus Hermanus Antonius van der Velden.
Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor
'. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press, 2012. pp. 141-142

Affiliates

In 1954, the following unions were affiliated to the federation:

Leadership

General Secretaries

:1890: J. Vendelmans :1892: H. Jughers :1910: Karl Deichmann :1919: Harry Eichelsheim :1931: Ferdinand Husung :1933: Edmund Olsen :1938: Dirk Nak :1952: Alfons van Uytven

Presidents

:1919: Christian Jensen :1934: V. Novack :1945: Marcelle Delabit

References

{{Authority control Trade unions established in 1890 Trade unions disestablished in 1958 Global union federations Tobacco industry trade unions