International Federation of Chemical, Energy and General Workers' Unions (ICEF) Archives

Period (1912-) 1946-1995
Total size   140.1 m.
Consultation Not restricted
User restriction A part of these archives is temporarily not available for consultation until February 2012

History

Its history goes back as far as 1907 when the International Federation of General Factory Workers (IFF) was founded in Stuttgart; renamed International Federation of Industrial Organisations and General Workers' Unions in 1950 and International Federation of Chemical and General Workers' Unions (ICF) in 1964; a merger with the rival International Federation of Petroleum and Chemical Workers (IFPCW) did not come about and after the IFPCW ceased to exist the ICF extended its activities to the energy sector, renaming itself International Federation of Chemical, Energy and General Workers' Unions (ICEF) in 1976; associated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and became one of the largest International Trade Secretariats (ITS); in 1984 the membership of its affiliated unions surpassed six million workers, represented within the ICEF by separate sections for the energy, chemical, rubber, glass, ceramic, paper, cement and other industries; coordinates the strategy and activities of affiliated unions in different countries; tries to counter-balance the power of multinational companies, the importance of which was especially stressed by its general secretary Charles Levinson; concerned with labour conditions, health and safety, industrial democracy and supports efforts of trade union organization in non-democratic countries.

Content

Documents relating to congresses 1947-1995, meetings of the Executive Committee and the Management Committee 1946-1995; the Coordinating Committee in the European Economic Community 1958-1981; correspondence 1972-1995; circular letters 1960-1995; statutes 1970, 1976, 1985; administrative and financial correspondence 1960-1995; documents concerning the preceding and founding organizations, including the International Federation of Glass Workers 1912, 1926, IFF 1923-1949, the International Union of Hairdressers 1934, 1951-1963; documents concerning the IFPCW 1962-1974; correspondence with the Federação Nacional dos Trabalhadores nas Indústrias Urbanas from Brazil, the Industriegewerkschaft Chemie-Papier-Keramik from Germany, the International Chemical Workers' Union from the USA, the Japanese Federation of Chemical and General Trade Unions Zenka Domei, the Serikat Buruh Industri Dan Umum (SERBIUM) from Indonesia, the Svenska Fabriksarbetareforbundet from Sweden and many other affiliated unions 1962-1980; correspondence with the ICFTU, ITS, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations 1952, 1955-1982; documents relating to the ICEF World Councils for AKZO, BASF, Bayer, CIBA-Geigy, Good Year-Firestone, ICI, Michelin, Solvay, Shell, Unilever and other multinational companies 1968-1983; documents, including reports of conferences and meetings, concerning various industrial branches, safety and health, accidents, work stress, nuclear energy, industrial democracy, education and other subjects 1938-1985; bulletins and press releases 1931, 1955-1968, 1972-1984; documents relating to the Women Workers' Group and the women workers conferences 1956-1986; documents relating to the ICEF offices in Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro 1970-1981; documents from Charles Levinson 1973-1977; reports, clippings and other documentation.

Processing information

Preliminary list made by Selma Çoban, Ergün Iseri and Ismee Tames in 1997.