International Federation of Plantation and Agricultural Workers
PredecessorPlantation Workers International Federation
International Landworkers' Federation
Merged intoInternational Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations
Founded2 Dec 1959
Dissolved31 Dec 1993
Headquarters17, Rue Necker, Geneva, Switzerland
Members
3 million (1994)[1]
PublicationIFPAAW Snips

The International Federation of Plantation and Agricultural Workers (IFPAAW) was a global union federation bringing together unions representing land workers.

History

The federation was created on December 2, 1959, when the Plantation Workers International Federation (PWIF) merged with the International Landworkers' Federation (ILF). The ILF consisted of European unions representing agricultural workers, while the PWIF consisted of mostly workers on plantations in poorer countries, but also included some former affiliates of the defunct International Federation of Tobacco Workers.[1]

By 1976, IFPAW claimed 3 million members, and maintained this level for the remainder of its existence. At some point, it changed its name slightly to the International Federation of Plantation, Agricultural and Allied Workers, while retaining the IFPAW abbreviation.[1]

IFPAW pioneered collective bargaining at the international level in 1988, when it signed an agreement with Danone.[1]

The federation merged into the International Union of Food and Allied Workers' Associations at 1 January 1994, which renamed itself as the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Association.[1]

Affiliates

In 1960, the following unions were affiliated to the federation:[2]

Union Country Affiliated membership
All Trinidad Sugar Estates and Factory Workers Union British West Indies Federation 7,000
Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America United States 4,500
Barbados Workers' Union British West Indies Federation 6,000
British Guiana Trades Union Council British Guiana Unknown
Cameroons Development Corporation Workers' Union British Cameroons 14,000
Ceylon Workers' Congress Ceylon 140,000
Danish Gardeners' Union Denmark 5,302
Danish General and Special Workers' Union Denmark 25,000
Eastern Region Development Corporation Workers' Union Nigeria 2,700
Federation of Peasants and Rural Workers of Peru Peru 1,000,000
General Union Belgium 4,000
Grenada Manual and Mental Workers' Union British West Indies Federation 10,000
Horticulture, Agriculture and Forestry Union West Germany 85,000
Italian Federation of Agricultural Employees and Labourers Italy 325,000
Italian Union of Land Workers Italy 448,669
National Agrarian Federation Costa Rica 1,500
National Federation of Agricultural Technicians and Employees Italy 4,000
National Federation of Agricultural Workers France 2,000
National Federation of Farmers Colombia 12,000
National Federation of Sharecroppers and Smallholders Italy 100,000
National Federation of Sugar Workers Peru 25,000
National Union of Agricultural Workers United Kingdom 125,000
National Union of Hired Agricultural Workers Israel 200,000
National Union of Plantation Workers Malaysia 140,000
National Workers Union British West Indies Federation 8,000
General Dutch Industrial Union of Agriculture Netherlands 39,962
Norwegian Union of Forestry and Land Workers Norway 8,000
Plantation Workers' Federation of Vietnam South Vietnam 26,000
Plantation Workers' Union Mauritius 5,000
Rural Workers' Union Finland 6,620
St Lucia Workers' Co-operative Union British West Indies Federation 958
Swedish Agricultural Workers' Union Sweden 29,925
Tanganyika Sisal and Plantation Workers' Union Tanganyika 81,339
Tela Railroad Company Workers' Union Honduras Unknown
Transport and General Workers' Union United Kingdom 6,000
Union of Agricultural and Forestry Workers Austria 68,636
Union of Commerce, Transport and Food Switzerland 1,010

Leadership

General Secretaries

1960: Tom Bavin
1976: Stanley Correa
1982: José Vargas
1988: Börje Svensson

Presidents

1960: Harold Collison
1976: Tom Bavin
1982: Börje Svensson
1988: P. P. Narayanan
1992: Post vacant

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Docherty, James C.; van der Velden, Sjaak (2012). Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor. Scarecrow Press. pp. 141–142. ISBN 0810879883.
  2. ^ Goldberg, Arthur (1960). Directory of International Trade Union Organizations. Washington DC: United States Department of Labour. pp. 12.1–12.16.
Categories