The World Trade Union Conference between 6–17 February 1945 was participated in by countries from all around the world, at County Hall,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Regarded as a significant moment within the international labour movement as it was the first time that workers from around the world came together to influence international politics. It was a product of the wave of popular internationalism and union self-confidence following the defeat of fascism in World War II. Both Clement Attlee and King George VI spoke to the audience at the conference. 204 representatives from 63 Unions around the world attended the conference including those from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, in an attempt to have representation within the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

and

Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

. The conference, which was organised in the vein of the anti-fascist movement being much inspired by both union and state notions of a new world order plus influenced by the interests of the allied nations. Anti-war, post war reconstruction post-war and Trade Union were on the agenda. The conference resulted in the Declarations of the World Trade Union Conference, which were published in San Francisco by the Trade Union Council in 1945 and inspired the Fifth Pan-African Congress to beheld later the same year in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. One of the purposes of the conference was to create a draft constitution for the

World Federation of Trade Unions The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) is an international federation of trade unions established in 1945. Founded in the immediate aftermath of World War Two, the organization built on the pre-war legacy of the International Federation o ...

which was established at the first World

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...

which convened in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in October 1945.

Attendees

The committee consisted of 45 voting members and one non-voting member but was participated in by plenty more of notable figures.

Asia

* China: Chu Hsueh Fan * India:

Shripad Amrit Dange Shripad Amrut Dange (10 October 1899 – 22 May 1991) was an Indian Politician who was a founding member of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and a stalwart of Indian trade union movement. During the 20th century, Dange was arrested by the a ...

, R.A. Khedgikar, S.K. Pramanik, A.K. Pillai * Palestine: John Asfour, Bulus Farah, A Rabinovitz

Africa

* Nigeria: T.A. Bankole * The Gambia: I.M. Garba-Jahumpa * Ghana: J.S. Annan * Sierra Leone:

I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson Isaac Theophilus Akunna Wallace-Johnson (1894 – 10 May 1965) was a Sierra Leonean, British West African workers' leader, journalist, activist and politician. Born into a poor Creole family in British Sierra Leone, he emerged as a natural le ...

* South Africa: F.R. Swan

Europe

* Belgium: J. Brodier,

Joseph Bondas Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, Walter Schevenels * Bulgaria: T.L. Pranov * Cyprus:

Andreas Ziartides Andreas Ziartides ( el, Ανδρέας Ζιαρτίδης; 1919–1997) was a Cypriot trade unionist and politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1960 to 1991, being elected as a candidate of the left wing AKEL party. He was Secretary Gen ...

* Czechoslovakia: J. Kosina * Finland: E. Harma * France:

Benoît Frachon Benoît Frachon (13 May 1893 – 1 August 1975) was a French metalworker and trade union leader who was one of the leaders of the French Communist Party (''Parti communiste français'', PCF) and of the French Resistance during World War II (1939– ...

, Albert Gazier,

Louis Saillant Louis André Saillant (27 November 1910 – 28 October 1974) was a French trade unionist and resistance fighter. Born in Valance, Saillant worked as a cabinet maker. He became active in the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), becoming s ...

* Iceland: B. Bjarnasson * Ireland: G. Lynch * Italy: G. Canini * Netherlands: C.J. Van Lienden * New Zealand:

Alec Croskery Alexander Wellington Croskery (19 December 1878 – 18 August 1952) was a New Zealand draper, political activist and trade unionist Biography Early life and death Croskery was born in 1878 in Swansea, Glamorganshire, Wales, to Alexander Brown C ...

* Norway:

Ingvald Haugen Ingvald Haugen (16 October 1894 – 20 June 1958) was a Norwegian trade union leader and politician for the Labour Party. He was born in Hadsel, Norway. President of the Norwegian Seafarers' Union (NSU) 1936 – 1958. Under his leadersh ...

Konrad Nordahl Konrad Mathias Nordahl (25 September 1897 – 22 May 1975) was a Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party. He was the leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions from 1939 to 1965, and an MP from 1958 to 1965. Earl ...

* Soviet Union: Vasili Kuznetsov, E.I. Sidorenko, Mikhail Tarasov * Spain: A. Rosal * Sweden: Gunnar Andersson * United Kingdom:

Walter Citrine Walter McLennan Citrine, 1st Baron Citrine, (22 August 1887 – 22 January 1983) was one of the leading British and international trade unionists of the twentieth century and a notable public figure. Yet, apart from his renowned guide to the co ...

Ebby Edwards Ebby is a given name. Notable people with the given name include: * Ebby DeWeese (1904–1942), American football player * Ebby Edwards (1884–1961), English trade unionist * Ebby Halliday (1911– 2015), American realtor * Ebby Nelson-Addy (born ...

Lincoln Evans Sir Lincoln Evans (18 September 1889 – 3 August 1970) was a Welsh trade unionist. Born in Swansea, Evans left school at the age of twelve to work for a butcher,"Obituary: Sir Lincoln Evans", ''The Guardian'', 4 August 1970 moving to several ...

George Isaacs George Alfred Isaacs JP DL (28 May 1883 – 26 April 1979) was a British politician and trades unionist who served in the government of Clement Attlee. Isaacs was born in Finsbury to a Methodist family. He married Flora Beasley (1884–1 ...

Herbert Morrison Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, (3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965) was a British politician who held a variety of senior positions in the UK Cabinet as member of the Labour Party. During the inter-war period, he was Minis ...

* Yugoslavia: Đuro Salaj

North America

* Canada: Pat Sullivan, J. McGuire * Cuba: Angel Cofiño * Jamaica: Ken Hill,

Una Marson Una Maud Victoria Marson (6 February 1905 – 6 May 1965) was a Jamaican feminist, activist and writer, producing poems, plays and radio programmes. She travelled to London in 1932 and became the first black woman to be employed by the BBC d ...

* United States:

Sidney Hillman Sidney Hillman (March 23, 1887 – July 10, 1946) was an American labor leader. He was the head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and in marshaling labor' ...

Philip Murray Philip Murray (May 25, 1886 – November 9, 1952) was a Scottish-born steelworker and an American labor leader. He was the first president of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC), the first president of the United Steelworkers o ...

Reid Robinson Reid Robinson (born June 7, 1908) was an American labor unionist. Born in Butte, Montana, Robinson moved with his family to Calgary in 1914, then to Seattle in 1918, and back to Butte in 1921. After school, he worked in the copper mines. He joine ...

R. J. Thomas Roland Jay Thomas (June 9, 1900 – April 18, 1967), also known as R. J. Thomas, was a left-wing leader of the American automobile workers union in the 1930s and 1940s. He grew up in eastern Ohio and attended the College of Wooster for t ...

Oceania

* Australia:

Ernie Thornton Ernest Thornton (13 March 1907 – 29 June 1969) was a British-born Australian trade union leader. Biography Thornton was born in Huddersfield in Yorkshire to tram driver Lewis Thornton and Selina, ''née'' Kerry. Selina left Lewis when Ern ...

South America

* Columbia: Bernardo Medina * Uruguay: Luis Gonzalez Unknown: B. Goodwin, B. Locker, J.H. Oldenbrock and V.L. Toledano

External links

* https://mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/TOF/WF/1

References

{{Reflist 1945 conferences