The General Labour Federation of Belgium (, ; , ; ABVV-FGTB) is a socialist national trade union federation in Belgium. It was founded in 1945. It is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation and has a membership of 1.5 million. With said membership the ABVV-FGTB is the second largest of the three major trade unions in Belgium, closely following the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (ACV/CSC) which has 1.6 million members and dwarfing the General Confederation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium (ACLVB/CGSLB) which has approximately 300,000 members.

During the bulk of its history the ABVV-FGTB remained closely affiliated with the Belgian Socialist Party which was split in 1978 into separate social-democratic parties along linguistic lines which have subsequently become Vooruit and the Parti socialiste (PS). While remaining formally independent from any political party, the ABVV-FGTB noticed the increasing influence of the Marxist Workers' Party of Belgium amongst its active base during the 2010s.

History

The first noteworthy historic date when talking about the history of the ABVV-FGTB is the founding of the Belgian Labour Party (BLP) in 1885. While several socialist organisations already existed beforehand this was the first time that the Belgian socialist movement was largely unified and laid the groundwork for the foundation of the ABVV-FGTB. In 1898 the Syndical Commission was erected within the framework of the BLP and in 1937 this Commission formally became independent from the socialist party, as the Belgian Trade Union Federation. Nonetheless strong ties between the socialist union and the socialist party were maintained until today. After the Second World War in 1945 this independent socialist union became the ABVV-FGTB we know today.

Membership and Affiliates

In 2017 the ABVV-FGTB had a total of 1,517,968 members divided across its 7 affiliates. Thus Belgium's second largest labour union noticed a modest decline in membership of 17,340 compared to 2016. On the regional level 726,410 of the aforementioned membership comes from Flanders, 600,945 from Wallonia and 190,613 from Brussels.

Union French abbreviation Flemish abbreviation Membership 2015 Membership 2016 Membership 2017 General Union CG AC 432,271 427,517 424,095 Association of Employees, Technicians and Managers SETCa BBTK 424,580 421,922 420,285 General Union of Public Services CGSP ACOD 311,795 309,046 303,062 Union of the Belgian Metal Industry CMB CMB 160,136 156,085 153,233 Food, Hospitality and Services Union HORVAL HORVAL 122,794 123,468 124,214 Belgian Union of Transport Workers UTB BTB 49,831 50,471 51,684 General Labour Federation of Belgium - Youth FGTB - Jeunes ABVV - Jongeren 43,509 46,799 41,395

Former affiliates Union French abbreviation Flemish abbreviation Founded Reason no longer affiliated Date Belgian Union of Tramway and Municipal Transport Workers CBPT BCTBAP 1919 Merged into ACOD 1968 Food Production Van Sina Vansina Vansina 1951 Merged into HORVAL 1955 General Diamond Workers' Association of Belgium ADB 1895 Merged into TVD 1994 Leather Workers' Union 1919 Merged into AC 1953 Paper and Publishing Industry Union CLP CBP 1944 Merged into BBTK and AC 1996 Textile-Clothing-Diamond Union TVD TKD 1994 Merged into AC 2014 Tobacco Workers' Union 1909 Merged into AC 1954 Union of Mineworkers of Belgium CSTMB NCMB 1889 Merged into AC 1994 Union of Belgian Stoneworkers COPB 1889 Merged into AC 1965 Union of Belgian Textile Workers COTB TACB 1898 Merged into TVD 1994 Union of Clothing Workers and Kindred Trades in Belgium CVPS CKAVB 1908 Merged into TVD 1994

Walloon movement

Through the foundation of the during the Great Strike that took place in the Winter of 1960-1961, the Walloon working class now also demanded federalism as well as structural reforms. The leader of the Strike, André Renard was also a national leader of the General Labour Federation of Belgium. This whole process would come to be named Renardism.

Leadership General Secretaries 1945: Joseph Bondas 1947: Paul Finet 1952: Louis Major 1968: Georges Debunne 1982: Alfred Delourme 1987: Jean Gayetot 1989: Mia De Vits 2002: André Mordant 2004: Xavier Verboven 2006: Anne Demelenne 2014: Marc Goblet 2017: Robert Vertenueil 2018: Miranda Ulens

Presidents 1956: Roger Dekeyzer 1957: Willy Schugens 1958: Alfons Baeyens 1959: Hervé Brouhon 1960: Emiel Janssens 1961: Joseph Dedoyard 1963: Victor Thijs 1964: Oscar Leclercq 1965: Desiré Van Daele 1966: Louis Plumier 1967: Gust Wallaert 1968: 1982: André Vanden Broucke 1989: François Janssens 1995: Michel Nollet 2002: Mia De Vits 2004: André Mordant 2006: Rudy De Leeuw 2018: Robert Vertenueil 2020: Thierry Bodson

See also

References

Sources

External links