The International Federation of Tobacco Workers (IFTW) was a global union federation bringing together unions representing workers involved in growing, processing or selling tobacco.
History The idea of an international federation of tobacco workers arose in the 1880s in the Belgian and Dutch unions, which tried to interest the German Tobacco Workers' Union in participating. In 1889, a conference was held in Antwerp between the unions, and in 1890, the federation was launched. It was based in Antwerp until 1910, then in Bremen, but became moribund during World War I. It was refounded in 1918, and the headquarters were moved to Amsterdam. By 1925, the federation had 25 affiliates, with a total of 118,000 members. This then fell, and by 1935, it had only 42,000 members, in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.
In 1958, the federation merged into the International Union of Food and Drinks Workers' Associations, which renamed itself as the "International Union of Food, Drinks and Tobacco Workers' Associations", although some of its affiliates preferred instead to join the new Plantation Workers International Federation.Docherty, J. C., and Jacobus Hermanus Antonius van der Velden. Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press, 2012. pp. 141-142
Affiliates In 1954, the following unions were affiliated to the federation:
Union Country Affiliated membership Danish Tobacco Workers' Union Denmark 8,942 Federation of Tobacco and Matches France 6,000 General Dutch Industrial Union of the Tobacco Industry Netherlands 3,000 National Federation of State Monopoly Workers Italy Unknown Norwegian Tobacco Workers' Union Norway 1,296 Pan Hellic Federation of Tobacco Workers Greece Unknown Swedish Tobacco Industry Workers' Union Sweden 1,766 Tobacco Workers' Union Belgium 3,809 Tobacco Workers' Union United Kingdom 20,750
Leadership General Secretaries 1890: J. Vendelmans 1892: Henri Jugters 1910: Karl Deichmann 1919: Harry Eichelsheim 1931: Ferdinand Husung 1933: Edmund Olsen 1938: Dirk Nak 1952: Alfons van Uytven
Presidents 1919: Christian Jensen 1934: V. Novack 1945: Marcelle Delabit
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