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 |
| Agricultural Workers' Union | Sweden | 41,171 |
| 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 |
| 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
- Sassenbach, Johannes (1926). Twenty-five years of international trade unionism. Amsterdam: International Federation of Trade Unions. p. 105.
- Repertoire des organisations internationales. Geneva: League of Nations. 1936. p. 287.
- Mitchell, James P. (1954). Directory of International Trade Union Organisations. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Labor. pp. 73–78.
- Docherty, James C.; van der Velden, Sjaak (2012). Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor. Scarecrow Press. pp. 141–142. ISBN 0810879883.