LECTURE NO. 3
The International Federation of Trade Unions
(The Amsterdam International)
International Trade Union Organizations
LET us acquaint ourselves with those tendencies which are noticed at the present time in the world's trade union movement. In order to study the struggle of factions (tendencies) within the world's trade union movement we have to consider the existing international trade union organizations and the particularities which differentiate one type of trade unions from the other.
In the world's trade union movement there are the following organizations: "The International Federation of Trade Unions," with headquarters at Amsterdam; twenty-nine international organizations united according to industry, as for instance, the International Unions of Metal Workers, Textile, Building Trades, Tailors, Barbers, Cap Makers, etc., which are politically close to the Amsterdam International. And then there is in existence the Red International of Labor Unions, with headquarters at Moscow, and thirteen International Propaganda Committees.
Besides these international units, for which the Amsterdam International and the Red International of Labor Unions unite the international trade union movement horizontally and the international unions according to industry, the International Propaganda Committees unite these same workers along vertical lines. Now, besides these, there is an "International Workingmens' Association." If this were judged by its name it might be considered something serious. But, in fact, it is the "International" created by the anarcho-syndicalist groups of France, Italy and Germany.
In addition to the internationals, which generally embrace all the factions within the labor movement, there is an attempt to create an International of Catholic Workers. And this "International" has already had international conferences where questions of interest to Catholic workers of different countries were discussed.
Here are all the international groupings in which are reflected the divergent political and trade union movements, and which, in one form or another, represent the existing factions within the international trade union movement.
Birth of the Amsterdam International
We will begin our acquaintance with the Amsterdam International; in the same order as we mentioned these organizations, we will consider
