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.
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.
Affiliates
In 1954, the following unions were affiliated to the federation:
| 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
- 1924: Georg Schmidt
- 1933: Piet Hiemstra
- 1938: Oscar Lewinsen
- 1942: Walter Kwasnik
- 1950: Adri de Ruijter
Presidents
- 1920: Walter Smith
- 1924: Joseph Forbes Duncan
- 1950: Edwin Gooch
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.