The International Federation of Petroleum and Chemical Workers (IFPCW) was a global union federation bringing together trade union representing workers in the chemical and oil industries.
History The secretariat was established in 1954 at a meeting in Paris, held on the initiative of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the Oil Workers' International Union of the United States. It was formed in response to the growth of employment in the oil industry, and was initially named the International Federation of Petroleum Workers. Most of its founder members had previously been affiliated to the International Federation of Industrial Organisations and General Workers' Unions (IFF).
The secretariat was based in Denver, and was the only global union federation to have headquarters outside Europe. By 1960, it had 43 affiliates, with a membership of more than 500,000. In 1963, the union began recruiting unions of chemical workers, and renamed itself as the "International Federation of Petroleum and Chemical Workers". This brought it into conflict with the IFF, which renamed itself as the "International Federation of Chemical and General Workers' Unions" (ICF), and the ICFTU suspended grants to both organisations.
By the late 1960s, it became known that the IFPCW was receiving regular grants from CIA funds, and it became regarded as a CIA front organisation. Faced with a loss of prestige, it discussed a potential merger with the ICF, but this did not occur, and it dissolved in 1976.
Affiliates In 1960, the following unions were affiliated to the federation:
Union Country Affiliated membership Autonomous Union of Italian Petroleum Workers Italy Unknown Bengal Oil and Petrol Workers' Union India Unknown Cartel of Unions of Research and Development Engineers in Hydrocarbons France Unknown Central Islamic Labour Union of Indonesia Indonesia Unknown Chemical, Paper and Ceramic Union West Germany 10,000 Consolidated Mobil Oil Workers' Union of Nigeria and Cameroons Nigeria Unknown Federation of Petroleum and Related Industries' Workers of Peru Peru 1,000 Hind Oil Kamger Sabha India 600 Histadrut Israel 2,400 Gambia Workers' Union Gambia Unknown General Union of Petroleum Workers Tunisia Unknown General Union of Petroleum Workers United Arab Republic 20,000 General Union of Miscellaneous Industries Netherlands 1,400 Kenya Chemical Workers' Union Kenya Unknown Kenya Petroleum and Oil Workers' Union Kenya 2,500 Lebanese Petroleum Company Employees' and Workers' Union Lebanon 75 Madras Kerosene Oil Workers' Union India Unknown Mobil Oil Company Employees' Union Lebanon 140 Mobil Oil Workers' Union Lebanon 140 National Federation of Engineers and Supervisory Employees France 300 National Federation of Miners France 600 National Federation of Petroleum and Products Workers Cuba 10,919 National Federation of Workers in Commercial Distribution Companies of Mining Products and Combustible Materials Brazil 40,000 National Federation of Workers in the Chemical, Parachemical and Glass Industries France 4,000 Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union Canada 10,000 Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union United States 200,000 Oil Companies' Field Staff Association India 150 Oilfield Workers' Federation British West Indies Federation 12,000 Pakistan Petroleum Workers' Federation Pakistan 12,000 Panhellenic Federation of Petroleum Workers and Employees Greece 5,000 Petroleum Employees' Union India 800 Petroleum Employees' Union of Ceylon Ceylon Unknown Petroleum Workers' Federation of Aruba Netherlands Antilles 3,000 Petroleum Workers' Federation of Curaçao Netherlands Antilles 6,200 Petroleum Workers' Trade Union Libya Unknown Singapore Petroleum Workers' Union Singapore 989 Swiss Textile and Factory Workers' Union Switzerland Unknown Turkish Petroleum Workers' Union Turkey 6,000 Union of Metal, Mining and Energy Austria Unknown Union of Oil and Methane Gas Workers Italy 8,795 Union of Oil and Petroleum Workers Ghana 2,200 Union of Organised Petroleum Workers Venezuela 1,300 Union of Petroleum Workers of Colombia Colombia 20,000
Leadership General Secretaries 1954: Loyd A. Haskins 1973: Curtis Hogan
Presidents 1954: Jack Knight 1967: Luis Tovar 1973: George Sacre
References