The Tobacco Workers' Union ( nl, Belgisch Centraal Verbond voor Tabaksbewerkers, french: Central Belge de travailleurs du tabac) was a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

representing workers in the tobacco industry in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. The union was founded on 22 November 1908, on the initiative of the National Federation of Cigar Makers, which merged into the new union. Like its predecessor, the union supported the emigration of members who struggled to find work, and it founded branches in the United States for Belgian tobacco workers there. In its early years, the union also focused on promoting the use of

union label A union label (sometimes called a union bug) is a label, mark or emblem which advertises that the employees who make a product or provide a service are represented by the labor union or group of unions whose label appears, in order to attract cus ...

s on tobacco boxes, showing that the contents had been made by unionised workers. The union's membership peaked at 10,000 in 1919, when it secured the eight-hour working day for the industry. However, branches in

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality and city located in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. ...

moved to the union's Christian rival, and as tastes switched from cigars to cigarettes, increased mechanisation saw the total workforce in the industry fall. It was a founder constituent of the

General Federation of Belgian Labour The General Labour Federation of Belgium (french: Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique, or FGTB; nl, Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond, ABVV) is a socialist national trade union federation in Belgium. It was founded in 1945. It is affiliated ...

in 1945. By 1953, it had only 3,809 members, and it felt that this was insufficient to continue. On 1 April 1954, it merged into the

General Union A general union is a trade union (called ''labor union'' in American English) which represents workers from all industries and companies, rather than just one organisation or a particular sector, as in a craft union or industrial union. A gene ...

. From 1950, the union's secretary was Alfons Van Uytven, who also became secretary of the

International Federation of Tobacco Workers The International Federation of Tobacco Workers (IFTW) was a global union federation bringing together unions representing workers involved in growing, processing or selling tobacco. History The idea of an international federation of tobacco worker ...

.{{cite book , last1=Mitchell , first1=James , title=The International Union of Food and Drink Workers' Associations , date=1959 , publisher=U.S. Department of Labor , location=Washington DC

References

Tobacco industry trade unions Trade unions in Belgium Trade unions established in 1908 Trade unions disestablished in 1954 1908 establishments in Belgium 1954 disestablishments in Belgium