# World Labor Unity/Chapter 15

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."
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) | (In thousands) | (In thousands) | (In thousands) | (In thousands) | (In thousands) | (In thousands) | (In thousands) | (In thousands) | (In thousands) | (In thousands) | (In thousands) | (In thousands) |
| Country | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 |
| Argentina | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | 68 | 248 | 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 | 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 | … | 3,600 |
| Yugoslavia | 8 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 20 | 47 | 72 | 81 | 60 |
| Total | 12.255 | 13,351 | 14,763 | 13,222 | 11,394 | 11,860 | 15,772 | 20,290 | 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.
* ↑ Labour Monthly, September, 1925, p. 528.
* ↑ Third Year Book of the International Federation of Trade Unions, 1925, page 234a.
* ↑ 1921 figure for Argentina includes 153,000 in an Anarcho-Syndicalist federation and 20,000 in a Catholic organization not listed in 1920.
* ↑ White workers only.
* ↑ American Federation of Labor only.
* ↑ Figures up to 1919 for pre-war Serbia.
* ↑ Total not reliable because of incomplete reporting during war and changes of boundaries.