Liberian Federation of Trade Unions

Former Liberian trade union

The Liberian Federation of Trade Unions (abbreviated LFTU) was a trade union centre in Liberia.

In 1977 the Liberian president William R. Tolbert Jr. had urged the different trade union centres to unite into a single body.[1] Thus the Liberian Federation of Trade Unions (LFTU) was founded, uniting the Labor Congress of Liberia and the Congress of Industrial Organizations of Liberia.[1][2] Nevertheless the United Workers Congress of Liberia and the United Mine Workers Union refused to join LFTU.[1]

The LFTU president was A. Benedict Tolbert, son of president Tolbert.[3][4] Amos Gray served as the secretary general of LFTU.[5]

LFTU was a member of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.[6] LFTU was given ICFTU membership at the 70th Executive Board meeting of ICFTU, held in Hamburg in May 1978.[7] ICFTU was represented at the inauguration ceremony of LFTU on October 12, 1977.[7] ICFTU sponsored a number of organizational trainings for LFTU.[7]

As of January 1979 ICFTU estimated the LFTU membership at 10,000.[6]

In August 1979 LFTU and UWC signed an agreement to work towards a merger and draft a joint constitution.[8] The two centres were due to merge before the end of 1979, but merger talks were delayed after the death of mother and niece of the LFTU secretary-general Gray.[9] In 1980 LFTU and UWC merged, forming the Liberian Federation of Labor Unions (LFLU).[2] The ICFTU membership of LFTU was passed on to LFLU.[6]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c A. P. Coldrick; Philip Jones (1979). The international directory of the trade union movement. Macmillan. p. 297.
2. ^ a b Martin Upham (1991). Trade Unions of the World. Longman Group UK Limited. p. 286.
3. ^ H. Boima Fahnbulleh (2004). Voices of Protest: Liberia on the Edge, 1974-1980. Universal-Publishers. p. 144\. ISBN 978-1-58112-503-0.
4. ^ IFPAAW Snips. International Federation of Plantation, Agricultural and Allied Workers. 1977.
5. ^ AFL-CIO.; AFL-CIO. Constitutional Convention (1979). Proceedings of the AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention. AFL-CIO. p. 509.
6. ^ a b c International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (1983). Congress Proceedings. pp. 32, 187.
7. ^ a b c International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (1979). Report of the World Congress. pp. 24, 159.
8. ^ Social and Labour Bulletin. International Labour Office. 1980. p. 40.
9. ^ African Trade Union News. Regional Economic Research and Documentation Center. 1978. p. 90.