World Labor Unity/Chapter 15

by Scott Nearing

XV. Next Steps Toward World Labor Unity

There is little difference of opinion regarding the immediate steps that must be taken to unify the Labor Movement. Five distinct aspects of the problem demand attention. First, there is the necessity of organizing each shop, mine, department or factory—each unit of occupational activity—and having it under the direction of a shop committee. Second, there is the task of organizing by trade or industry or occupation, within each country, and internationally. Third, there is the work of federating these organizations within a given country into one Trade Union organization. Fourth, for the workers in imperial countries, there is the problem of assisting the workers in exploited countries to organize. This can be done most effectively where the assistance comes from the workers in the exploiting country to the colonials that are being exploited by that country. And fifth, there must be organized one single International Federation of Trade Unions.

Purcell states the immediate program in this way:

"(1) The organization of the workers of the East.

"(2) A common defensive fight against the conspiracy of capitalism to worsen the conditions of the workers.

"(3) A common offensive fight for the improvement of the conditions of the workers everywhere.

"(4) A systematic campaign against the conspiracy of British and American financial capital which has found its clearest expression in the Dawes Report.

"These aims … are simple enough. Now for the way to achieve unity, which is equally simple. What is required is a general world congress of all Trade Union organizations, with a full and adequate representation of the rank and file. …

"We cannot expect a world congress to be convened tomorrow. One important step, however, on the road to international unity can be taken at once. That is the affiliation of the Russian Trade Unions to the International Federation of Trade Unions. This should and can be achieved, without more ado, by a preliminary unconditional conference on both sides."^[1]

World Labor Unity is no utopian dream. It is an immediate pressing necessity which awaits the will of the workers for its realization. The economic basis for its accomplishment is already laid. Upon the militants of the present generation rests the task of forging the scattered Trade Union forces of the world into one International Federation of Trade Unions.

INTERNATIONAL STATISTICS.

Proportion of Trade Union Membership to Population, 1922.

Country	Trade Union Membership (In thousands)	Population (In thousands)	Percentage of Population in Trade Unions
Argentina	60	8,533	.7
Australia	750	5,437	13.8
Austria	1,177	6,131	19.2
Belgium	781	7,479	10.5
Bulgaria	54	4,861	1.1
Canada	292	8,769	3.3
China	500	302,110	.2
Cuba	20 (est.)	2,889	.7
Czechoslovakia	1,383	13,596	10.3
Denmark	314	3,268	9.6
Dominican Republic	5	897	.4
Ecuador	5	2,000	.2
Egypt	60	12,710	.5
Finland	49	3,368	1.5
France	1,396	39,403	3.5
Germany	11,264	59,857	18.8
Great Britain	5,580	42,768	10.7
Greece	170	5,535	3.1
Hungary	203	7,841	2.6
India	500	247,140	.2
Ireland	183	4,390	4.2
Italy	3,443	37,528	9.2
Japan	111	56,961	.2
Latvia	26	1,503	1.7
Luxemburg	21	264	8.0
Mexico	656	15,502	4.2
Netherlands	550	6,841	8.0
New Zealand	83	1,219	6.8
Norway	96	2,646	3.6
Palestine	15	762	2.0
Panama	3	401	.7
Peru	25	4,570	.5
Poland	1,253	27,778	4.5
Portugal	150	5,958	2.0
Rumania	82	17,393	.5
Russia	4,828	131,546	3.7
South Africa	60	6,923	.9
Spain	310	20,784	1.5
Sweden	325	5,904	5.5
Switzerland	243	3,880	6.3
United States	3,680	105,711	3.5
Virgin Islands	2	26	7.7
Yugoslavia	81	11,338	.7

Membership of Trade Unions in Various Countries, 1911–1923.
	(In thousands)
Country	1911	1912	1913	1914	1915	1916	1917	1918	1919	1920	1921	1922	1923[2]
Argentina	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	68	248[3]	60	120
Australia	365	433	498	523	528	546	564	582	628	684	703	750	700
Austria	200	257	253	147	112	109	211	295	772	985	1,178	1,177	1,117
Belgium	189	231	203	203	…	…	…	450	750	920	920	781	745
Bulgaria	…	…	30	…	…	…	…	…	…	36	44	54	100
Canada	133	160	176	166	143	160	205	249	378	374	313	292	255
China	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	300	500	300
Czechoslovakia	100	107	107	55	40	24	43	161	657	1,650	1,562	1,383	1,505
Denmark	128	139	154	156	173	189	224	316	360	362	323	314	303
Finland	20	24	28	31	30	42	161	21	41	59	49	49	48
France	1,029	1,064	1,027	1,026	…	…	1,500	2,000	2,500	1,788	1,047	1,396	1,496
Germany	3,336	3,566	3,572	2,271	1,524	1,496	1,937	3,801	9,000	13,000	12,625	11,264	9,193
Great Britain	2,970	3,226	4,192	4,199	4,417	4,677	5,547	6,645	8,024	8,493	6,793	5,580	5,405
Greece	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	170	…	…	…
Hungary	95	102	107	107	43	55	215	500	500	343	266	203	191
India	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	500	500	500	300
Italy	847	861	972	962	806	701	740	…	1,800	3,100	2,200	3,443	2,235
Japan	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	111	…	126
Latvia	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	50	26	24
Luxemburg	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	26	…	13
Mexico	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	1,056	656	800
Netherlands	169	189	220	227	251	304	369	456	625	664	649	550	545
New Zealand	56	61	71	74	68	71	…	…	100	96	98	83	80
Norway	53	61	64	68	78	81	94	180	144	154	98	96	90
Peru	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	25	…	25
Poland	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	947	1,343	1,253	770
Portugal	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	150	150	…	50
Rumania	6	10	…	…	17	16	16	…	…	170	106	82	78
Russia	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	5,222	8,400	4,838	4,536
South Africa	…	…	5	…	…	…	…	…	…	133	108	60[4]	35
Spain	80	190	128	121	76	99	90	150	211	373	311	310	453
Sweden	111	120	136	141	151	189	244	302	339	390	362	325	400
Switzerland	78	86	89	50	65	89	149	177	224	312	267	234	299
United States	2,282	2,539	2,722	2,672	2,860	3,000	3,451	4,000	5,607	4,924	3,907[5]	…	3,600
Yugoslavia[6]	8	5	9	14	12	12	12	15	20	47	72	81	60
Total	12.255	13,351	14,763	13,222	11,394[7]	11,860[7]	15,772[7]	20,290[7]	32,680	46,114	46,138	39,951	36,017

United States Monthly Labor Review, May, 1921; International Labor Review, February-March, 1923; Twelfth Annual Report on Labor Organization in Canada, 1922; Second Statistical Year Book of the International Federation of Trade Unions, 1924; Industrial and Labor Information, 1922–25; and Proceedings of Congresses.

1. Labour Monthly, September, 1925, p. 528.
2. Third Year Book of the International Federation of Trade Unions, 1925, page 234a.
3. 1921 figure for Argentina includes 153,000 in an Anarcho-Syndicalist federation and 20,000 in a Catholic organization not listed in 1920.
4. White workers only.
5. American Federation of Labor only.
6. Figures up to 1919 for pre-war Serbia.
7. Total not reliable because of incomplete reporting during war and changes of boundaries.