European Trade Union Confederation Archives
Period (1939-) 1950-2000 (-2011)
Total size 217 m.
Consultation Restricted
Permission required for documents younger than 30 years by the General
Secretary of the ETUC
See consultation information
History
ETUC: the eldest of its forerunners, the European Regional Organisation of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ERO-ICFTU) was founded in 1950; the Belgian trade union leader Walter Schevenels was its general secretary until his death in 1966; in 1952, following the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the Trade Union Committee of Twenty-One was formed, composed of the national confederations affiliated with the ICFTU and the federations of trade unions in the coal and steel sectors in the ECSC member countries; a year after the signature of the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957, the ICFTU's European affiliates set up a European Trade Union Secretariat (ETUS), members of which were the trade union confederations of the EEC member states; the ETUS absorbed the Trade Union Committee of Twenty-One; in 1969 the ETUS adopted a new name, the European Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ECFTU) in the European Community, while the ERO-ICFTU was dissolved; in 1973 the ECFTU merged with the Trade Union Committee for the European Free Trade Area (EFTA-TUC) into the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC); the seventeen founding members of the ETUC had all been affiliated with the ICFTU, but soon some Christian organizations affiliated with the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) and some unions without international affiliation also joined the ETUC; at the end of 1994 the ETUC comprised 47 national trade union confederations from 22 European countries; the 15 European Industry Committees, representing separate industrial sectors, were also members; at the end of 1994 nine national trade union confederations from six Central and Eastern European countries had the observer status; the ETUC aspires to represent all European working people and promotes the extension and consolidation of political liberties and democracy, respect for human and trade union rights and the elimination of all forms of discrimination. Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) of the European Recovery Programme (ERP): founded in 1948; changed its name in 1955 to Joint Trade Union Advisory Committee (JTUAC) to the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) and in 1961 to Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Walter Schevenels was its secretary-general 1949-1966. Trade Union Committee for the European Free Trade Area (EFTA-TUC): a secretariat, founded in 1968 by the ICFTU affiliated trade unions of non-ECC countries in the EFTA, some of which eventually entered the ECC; dissolved when the ETUC was founded in 1973.
Content
ERO-ICFTU (with some earlier documents): documents relating to the European Regional Conferences of the ERO and the meetings of the Executive Committee: minutes, agenda, reports and correspondence 1950-1969; correspondence, circular letters and press releases 1959-1970; reports 1951-1964; files regarding the ICFTU, the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions (IFCTU), the ETUS and affiliated trade union confederations 1944-1969; files on the beginnings of European integration, the Trade Union Committees of Fifteen and Twenty-One, the ECSC, bodies of the EEC, the Council of Europe, the EFTA and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) 1942-1969; files relating to the Economic Committee, the Standing Housing Committee, the European Advisory Committee on Education and the European Trade Union Youth Committee of the ERO 1949-1969; files concerning the reorganization and liquidation of the ERO-ICFTU 1965-1969. ETUS, ECFTU and ETUC: documents relating to the General and Annual Assemblies, the Congresses, the meetings of the Executive Committee and the Finance and General Purposes Committee: minutes, agenda, constitution, reports and correspondence 1957-1991; correspondence of the general secretary and other secretaries; circular letters and press releases 1965-1994; files regarding the ICFTU, the WCL and the International Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (ICTU), the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), the TUAC to the OECD; the Industry Committees, affiliated and non-affiliated national trade union organizations, the bodies of the European Community (EC), the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the EFTA, the ILO and other international organizations 1958-1992; files on the political situation, in particular trade union rights, in Poland 1980-1991 and Turkey 1980-1994; files on the Forum for Cooperation and Integration (Eastern Europe) 1991-1994; files on employment including Tripartite Conferences and the Bruno Kreisky Commission for Employment Issues in Europe; on collective bargaining, economics and social affairs, including the `Social Dialogue'; on youth activities and development, including the Lomé Convention; on human rights, peace and disarmament, environment, health and safety, energy and technology 1958-1995; files on the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions 1974-1993; files on the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), the European Trade Union Technical Bureau for Health and Safety (TUTB) and the European Trade Union (Social) Academy 1976-1992. TUAC of the ERP, JTUAC to the OEEC and TUAC to the OECD: minutes 1948-1978; correspondence of secretary-general Walter Schevenels and from 1966 G. Dermine, with Charles Ford, deputy secretary of the TUAC 1959-1970; circular letters 1949-1981; documents regarding the European Recovery Programme (ERP), the OEEC, the OECD and the European Productivity Agency (EPA) of the OEEC 1948-1982. EFTA-TUC: minutes 1968-1973.
Documents relating to the Congresses, the meetings of the Executive Committee and the Finance and General Purposes Committee: minutes, agenda, reports and correspondence 1991-1994; files on social exclusion, unemployment and racism 1991-1996; files on FORCE (Action program for the development of continuing vocational training) 1992-1994, on the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions 1994-2000, on the European Forum Health and Safety at the Workplace 1992-1993, on Euro-C, the Consumers' Unit of the ETUC 1991-1995; files on the Consultation Forum for the European Ecolabel 1994-1998.
Processing information
Inventory made by Bouwe Hijma in 1997
List accrual 1996-1998 made by Bouwe Hijma in 2000
List accrual 2000-2002 made by Bernard Mantel in 2002