The International Clothing Workers' Federation (IGWF) was a global union federation representing workers involved in making and repairing clothes.

History

The federation was established in 1893 at a conference in Zurich. The following year, it established headquarters in Berlin, moving to Amsterdam in 1920. It held conferences in different European locations every three to four years. In 1925, the International Furriers' Secretariat merged into the organisation, giving the organisation 29 affiliates with a total of 315,000 members.[1]

The federation ceased to operate during World War II, but was re-established in 1946, based in London. In 1949, it was refounded as the International Garment Workers' Federation,[2] which in 1960 merged with the International Federation of Textile Workers' Associations to form the International Textile and Garment Workers' Federation.[3]

Affiliates

In 1954, the following unions were affiliated to the federation:[4]

UnionCountryAffiliated membership
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of AmericaUnited States282,212
Clothing and Hat FederationFrance5,000
Danish Clothing Workers' UnionDenmark22,204
Danish Hatters' and Furriers' UnionDenmarkUnknown
Felt Hatters', Trimmers' and Allied Workers' UnionsUnited Kingdom5,487
General Industrial Union of Textiles and ClothingNetherlands4,500
International Ladies' Garment Workers' UnionUnited States368,000
National Union of Hosiery WorkersUnited Kingdom40,539
National Union of Tailors and Garment WorkersUnited Kingdom120,417
Norwegian Union of Clothing WorkersNorway15,500
Swedish Clothing Workers' UnionSweden32,167
Swiss Clothing, Leather and Equipment Workers' UnionSwitzerland3,360
Tailor, Tent, Sailmaker and Garment Workers' UnionKenya1,250
Textile and Clothing UnionWest Germany75,000
Union of Clothing WorkersFinland5,000
Union of Clothing Workers and Kindred Trades in BelgiumBelgium9,500
Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied WorkersUnited Kingdom15,000
Union of Textile and Clothing WorkersLuxembourg333
Union of Textile, Clothing and Leather WorkersAustria4,000
United Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union (UHCMW)United States32,000
United Italian Federation of Clothing WorkersItaly53,000

Leadership

General Secretaries

1894: Clara Zetkin
1900: Heinrich Stühmer
1920: Tonnis van der Heeg
1946: Andrew Conley
1949: Ian Milner[2]
1956: John Newton[2]

Presidents

1910s: William P. Arup
1920: Martin Plettl
1933: Josef Andersson
as of 1957: Per Petterson[2]

References

  1. ↑ Sassenbach, Johannes (1926). Twenty-five years of international trade unionism. Amsterdam: International Federation of Trade Unions. p. 98–99.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Yearbook of the International Free Trade Union Movement. London: Lincolns-Prager. 1957–1958. pp. 527–529.
  3. ↑ "International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF)". Union of International Associations. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  4. ↑ Mitchell, James P. (1954). Directory of International Trade Union Organisations. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Labor. pp. 35–40.
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