International Landworkers' Federation

The International Landworkers' Federation (ILF) was a global union federation bringing together trade unions representing agricultural and forestry workers.

History

The federation was established in 1920 at a conference in Amsterdam, and set up its headquarters in Utrecht. In 1924, it relocated to Berlin, but returned to Utrecht in 1933. By 1925, it had 15 affiliates, with a total of 377,800 members, and by 1954 this had grown to more than 1,000,000 members, principally in Europe.[1][2][3]

In 1960, the federation merged with the Plantation Workers International Federation, which mostly represented workers on plantations in poorer countries, forming the International Federation of Plantation and Agricultural Workers.[4]

Affiliates

In 1954, the following unions were affiliated to the federation:[3]

Union Country Affiliated membership
Agricultural Labourers' Union Israel 120,000
Danish Gardeners' Union Denmark 5,213
Danish General Workers' Union Denmark 35,000
General Dutch Industrial Union of Agriculture Netherlands 39,800
General Union of Workers in Building, Household and Related Occupations Belgium 2,000
Horticulture, Agriculture and Forestry Union West Germany 115,000
Italian Federation of Agricultural Employees and Labourers Italy 325,000
Italian Union of Land Workers Italy 140,000
Likomba Plantation Workers' Union British Cameroons 3,000
National Agricultural Workers' Union United States 8,500
National Federation of Free Agricultural Technicians and Employees Italy 4,000
National Union of Agricultural Workers United Kingdom 135,000
Norwegian Union of Forestry and Land Workers Norway 8,000
Rural Workers' Union Finland 14,000
Swedish Agricultural Workers' Union Sweden 41,171
Transport and General Workers' Union United Kingdom 9,000
Union of Agricultural Workers France 2,000
Union of Commerce, Transport and Food Switzerland 1,300
Union of Employees in Governmental Enterprises Saarland 236
Union of Agricultural and Forestry Workers Austria 69,186

Leadership

General Secretaries

1920: Piet Hiemstra[1]
1924: Georg Schmidt[1]
1933: Piet Hiemstra[2]
1938: Oscar Lewinsen
1942: Walter Kwasnik
1950: Adri de Ruijter[3]

Presidents

1920: Walter Smith
1924: Joseph Forbes Duncan[2]
1950: Edwin Gooch[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Sassenbach, Johannes (1926). Twenty-five years of international trade unionism. Amsterdam: International Federation of Trade Unions. p. 105.
  2. ^ a b c Repertoire des organisations internationales. Geneva: League of Nations. 1936. p. 287.
  3. ^ a b c d Mitchell, James P. (1954). Directory of International Trade Union Organisations. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Labor. pp. 73–78.
  4. ^ Docherty, James C.; van der Velden, Sjaak (2012). Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor. Scarecrow Press. pp. 141–142. ISBN 0810879883.