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ABSTRACT
In the 1950s and 1960s, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) protested nuclear weapons testing, called for nuclear and conventional disarmament, and simultaneously embraced the promises of atomic energy. The ICFTU also, particularly through its atomic energy committee, pressed the United Nations (UN), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the new International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for stronger worker protections and union input at atomic energy sites. Such efforts revealed how a non-governmental organization (NGO) attempted to shape international narratives and standards regarding nuclear weapons and atomic energy, revealing a complex approach to the use of the atom.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Michael Ross to Richard Eldridge, 31 August 1950, Box 18, Folder 7: ‘Eldridge, Richard, 1948–1953’, RG18-002. CIO International Affairs Department. Director’s Files: Michael Ross, 1920–1963, The George Meany Memorial AFL-CIO Archives, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
2 Holger Nehring, Politics of Security: British and West German Protest Movements and the Early Cold War, 1945–1970 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 2; and Richard Taylor, Against the Bomb: The British Peace Movement, 1958–1965 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 343.
3 Dolores L. Augustine, Taking on Technocracy: Nuclear Power in Germany, 1945 to the Present (New York: Berghahn Books, 2018), 249.
4 Dolores Augustine and Dick van Lente, ‘Conclusion: One World, Two Worlds, Many Worlds?’, in The Nuclear Age in Popular Media: A Transnational History, 1945–1965, ed. Dick van Lente (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), 239.
5 Gabrielle Hecht, The Radiance of France: Nuclear Power and National Identity After World War II (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1998), 163, 332.
6 Gabrielle Hecht, Being Nuclear: Africans and the Global Uranium Trade (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2012), 3–4.
7 Robert A. Divine, Blowing on the Wind: The Nuclear Test Ban Debate, 1954–1960 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978); Allan M. Winkler, Life Under a Cloud: American Anxiety About the Atom (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993); Lawrence S. Wittner, One World or None: A History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement Through 1953 (Stanford, CA: Stanford University press, 1993); and Lawrence S. Wittner, Resisting the Bomb: A History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement, 1954–1970 (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1997).
8 Anthony Carew, American Labour’s Cold War Abroad: From Deep Freeze to Détente, 1945–1970 (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2018); Marcel van der Linden, ed., The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (New York: Peter Lang, 2000); Geert van Goethem and Robert Anthony Waters, Jr., eds., American Labor’s Global Ambassadors: The International History of the AFL-CIO During the Cold War (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013); Yvette Richards, Maida Springer: Pan-Africanist and International Labor Leader (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2000); David Fischer, History of the International Atomic Energy Agency: The First Forty Years (Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency, 1997), 78; and Robert L. Brown, Nuclear Authority: The IAEA and the Absolute Weapon (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2015).
9 Winkler, Life, 145–6.
10 Divine, Blowing, 3–8.
11 J.H. Oldenbroek to Dhyan Mungat, ‘Personal and Confidential’, 12 April 1954, Box 10, Folder 14: ‘CIO Correspondence, 1953–1954’, ILOA Files.
12 Ibid.
13 Appendix to 12EB/ES.Comm./No. 1, ‘Resolution No. 2: On Atomic Energy’, 27 May 1954, Box 3, Folder 8: ‘ICFTU – 12th Executive Board meeting Brussels, 24–29 May 1954’, Jay B. Krane Papers, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI (hereafter Krane Papers).
14 Divine, Blowing, 31.
15 Morris Weisz to FOA/W, State and Labor Departments, Mission Labor Personnel, Labor attaches, ‘WFTU’s “European Trade Union Conference”’, 5 August 1954, p. 1 and attached ‘Appendix B: Message to Workers of the Whole World on Atomic Weapons and H-Bomb’, pp. 1–2, Box 11, Folder 11: ‘WFTU, 1953–1956’, RG18-005. International Affairs Department. Staff Files: George Delaney’s Files, 1921–1957, The George Meany Memorial AFL-CIO Archives, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
16 ‘Agenda Item 13(c): Control of Atomic Energy’, 3 November 1954, pp. 1–2, Box 2, Folder 6: ‘Executive Board, November 24–28, 1954’, ILOA Files.
17 Ibid., 2.
18 ICFTU Press Release, ‘Disarmament and Atomic Weapons: ICFTU General Secretary Takes Action’, 28 December 1954, pp. 1–2, Box 22, Folder 19: ‘International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), 1950–1954’, RG18-004. International Affairs Department. Irving Brown Files, 1943–1989, The George Meany Memorial AFL-CIO Archives, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (hereafter Brown Files).
19 Divine, Blowing, 38–53.
20 Valery Burati to Victor Reuther, ‘Japanese Labor Delegation and Atomic Energy’, 24 February 1955, Box 9, Folder 7: Conference on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, 1–2 August 1955 (Mike Ross Files)’, ILOA Files.
21 Victor Reuther to J.H. Oldenbroek, 29 April 1955, Box 7, Folder 14: ‘Fourth World Congress – Correspondence 20–28 May 1955’, ILOA Files.
22 Ibid.
23 Divine, Blowing, 58–62.
24 ICFTU Fourth World Congress, ‘Resolution on Prohibition of Atomic Warfare and Protection of Peace and Freedom’, 9 June 1955, Box 4, Folder 3: ‘ICFTU-14th EBM Vienna, 16–18 May 1955’, Krane Papers.
25 Ibid.
26 J.H. Oldenbroek to George Meany, ‘Conference on the Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy’, 7 June 1955, Box 49, Folder 2: ‘Subjects: Atomic Energy, 1955’, (hereafter 49/2) President’s Files.
27 ICFTU Press Release, ‘ICFTU Urges Internationally Planned Atomic Energy Development For Peaceful Purposes’, 25 July 1955, 49/2, President’s Files.
28 Divine, Blowing, 62.
29 Conference on the Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy, ‘Minutes of the Meeting’, 18 August 1955, pp. 1–9 (quote from p. 6), Box 19, Folder 15: ‘Atomic Energy, 1955–1956’, (hereafter 19/15) ILOA Files.
30 Ibid., quote from p. 7.
31 Ibid., 8.
32 Conference on the Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy, ‘Statement on the Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy’, 1–2 August 1955, pp. 1–2, Box 7, Folder 8: ‘ICFTU-8th Emergency Committee Meeting Brussels, 6–7 October 1955’, Krane Papers.
33 Ibid., 2.
34 Ibid., 2.
35 Divine, Blowing, 63–6.
36 Herman Patteet, ‘Report on the United Nations International Conference on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy’, 12 September 1955, pp. 1–3, Box 2, Folder 11: ‘Executive Board, 12–16 December 1955 (Mike Ross File)’, ILOA Files.
37 Ibid., 3.
38 ‘ICFTU Statement to the Governmental Delegations Attending the Tenth United Nations General Assembly’, 21 October 1955, p. 1, Box 12, Folder 16: ‘New York Office (Bill Kemsley), 1954’, (hereafter 12/16) ILOA Files.
39 Circular by J.H. Oldenbroek, ‘Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy’, 2 November 1955, Box 26, Folder 7: ‘Circulars, 1955 (Incomplete File)’, ILOA Files.
40 Circular by J.H. Oldenbroek, ‘Committee on Atomic Energy’, 20 January 1956, 19/15, ILOA Files; Circular by J.H. Oldenbroek, ‘ICFTU Committee on Atomic Energy’, 14 June 1956, 19/15, ILOA Files. While not directly stipulated in his circular, the only sub-committee meeting to occur between the ICFTU atomic energy conference and the January circular occurred in early October 1955 and had the conference as an agenda item.
41 Divine, Blowing, 75–82.
42 Fischer, The First Forty Years, 35.
43 First Meeting, ICFTU Committee on Atomic Energy, ‘The Draft Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency’, 10 August 1956, p. 1, 3, 19/15, ILOA Files.
44 Ibid., 3–4.
45 Ibid., 4.
46 Ibid., 5.
47 Ibid., 5.
48 Divine, Blowing, 84–112.
49 ‘Statement on the Draft Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency: Adopted by the Committee on Atomic Energy’, 30 August 1956, pp. 1–2, 12/16, ILOA Files; ICFTU Press Release, ‘Free Trade Unions Ask for Voice in Deliberations of International Atomic Energy Conference Here’, 11 October 1956, p. 1, Box 4, Folder 9: ‘Correspondence: Victory Reuther April 1956 – December 1958’, William and Ann Kemsley Papers, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI (hereafter Kemsley Papers); and Fischer, The First Forty Years, 47, 49.
50 Arnold Beichman to James Wadsworth, 3 October 1956, 19/15, ILOA Files; Divine, Blowing, 178.
51 ‘Agenda Item 12(h): Report on Atomic Energy Conference’, 26 November 1956, p. 2, Box 2, Folder 15: ‘Executive Board, 26–30 November 1956’, ILOA Files.
52 Ibid., 2.
53 Ibid., 3.
54 Ibid., 3.
55 Ibid., 3.
56 William Kemsley to Alfred Braunthal, 28 December 1956, p. 1, 19/15, ILOA Files.
57 Ibid., 1.
58 Ibid., 1–2.
59 Divine, Blowing, 113–16, 119, 125.
60 ICFTU Third Asian Regional Conference, ‘Resolution on Banning of Nuclear Tests’, 30 March 2030–4 April 1957, Box 12, Folder 17: ‘Afro-Asian Conference Tunis, 10 July 1957’, Krane Papers; ICFTU Fifth World Congress ‘Economic, Social, and Political Committee: Statement on Peace and Disarmament’, 12 July 1957, p. 1, Box 7, Folder 18: ‘Fifth World Congress, 5–13 July 1957’, ILOA Files.
61 ‘Statement to the Governmental Delegations to the Twelfth Session of the United Nations General Assembly’, 30 September 1957, pp. 1–2, Box 26, Folder 9: ‘Circulars, 1957’, ILOA Files; ‘Draft Resolution on Disarmament and Permanent United Nations Force’, 7 November 1957, Box 3, Folder 1: ‘Executive Board, 4–8 November 1957’, ILOA Files.
62 Second Meeting, ICFTU Committee on Atomic Energy, ‘Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency’, 18 January 1957, p. 3, 8, Box 19, Folder 16: ‘Atomic Energy, 1957–1960’, (hereafter 19/16) ILOA Files; Fischer, The First Forty Years, 35, 47–9.
63 Fischer, The First Forty Years, 49, 57.
64 Second Atomic Energy Meeting, ‘Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency’, p. 8, 9.
65 ‘Statement on the International Atomic Energy Agency’, 11 February 1957, 19/16, ILOA Files.
66 For Brandwein’s title, see J.H. Oldenbroek to George Meany, ‘Committee on Atomic Energy’, 4 January 1957, 19/16, ILOA Files.
67 Seymour Brandwein to George Brown, Michael Ross, Stanley Ruttenberg, and Andrew Biemiller, ‘Meeting of the ICFTU Committee on Atomic Energy, 31 January 1957’, 5 March 1957, p. 2, 19/16, ILOA Files.
68 Ibid., 2.
69 William Kemsley to Baron Pierre de Gaiffier D’Hestroy, 29 March 1957, Box 10, Folder 24: ‘Correspondence, 1957’ (hereafter 10/24) ILOA Files.
70 William Kemsley to Baron Pierre de Gaiffier D’Hestroy, 24 April 1957, p. 1, 10/24, ILOA Files.
71 Circular by J.H. Oldenbroek, ‘Control of Atomic Energy’, 30 April 1957, p. 1, 10/24, ILOA Files.
72 Divine, Blowing, 155–7, 159.
73 ‘Agenda Item 14: Report of the Committee on Atomic Energy’, 4–8 November 1957, p. 1, Box 5, Folder 5: ‘ICFTU-21st E.B.M. Brussels, 4–8 November 1947’ (hereafter 5/5) Krane Papers; Circular by J.H. Oldenbroek, 12 August 1957, p. 1, 19/16, ILOA Files; Fischer, The First Forty Years, 59.
74 Oldenbroek Circular, 12 August 1957, 1.
75 ‘Summary of Document for Agenda Item 14: Report of the Committee on Atomic Energy’, 29 October 1957, 5/5, Krane Papers.
76 Ibid.
77 ‘Agenda Item 1: Brief Minutes of the Third Meeting’, 1 October 1958, pp. 2–3, Box 3, Folder 7: ‘Executive Board, 2–5 Nov 1958’, ILOA Files.
78 Paul Blau, ‘Report on the First General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency’, 9 December 1957, p. 4, 19/16, ILOA Files.
79 Ibid., 2.
80 Ibid., 2.
81 Divine, Blowing, 195–212. Quote on 202.
82 Circular by J.H. Oldenbroek, ‘Second Trade Union Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy’, 17 April 1958, pp. 1–2, 19/16, ILOA Files.
83 ICFTU Second Trade Union Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, ‘Brief Minutes’, 17 September 1958, pp. 2–5, 19/16, ILOA Files.
84 ‘Statement: On International Aid and Cooperation in the Field of Atomic Energy’, 10 July 1958, Box 5, Folder 9: ‘ICFTU-22nd E.B.M. Brussels, 3–5 July 1958’, Krane Papers.
85 Circular by J.H. Oldenbroek, ‘Action Following the Second Trade Union Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy’, 15 July 1958, pp. 1–3, 19/16, ILOA Files.
86 Divine, Blowing, 227–37. Quote on 231 and conference title on 237.
87 J.H. Oldenbroek to George Meany, ‘United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy’, 19 August 1958, 19/16, ILOA Files; George Meany to J.H. Oldenbroek, ‘United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy’, 27 August 1958, p. 1, 19/16, ILOA Files.
88 Circular by J.H. Oldenbroek, 29 September 1958, 19/16, ILOA Files.
89 Fifth Meeting, ICFTU Committee on Atomic Energy, ‘Agenda Item 1: Brief Minutes of the Fourth Meeting’, 5 May 1959, p. 2, 19/16, ILOA Files.
90 Ibid., 3, 5.
91 Ibid., 4–5.
92 ‘Resolution on Atomic Energy’, 3 December 1958, 19/16, ILOA Files.
93 Circular by J.H. Oldenbroek, ‘Resolution on Atomic Energy’, 22 December 1958, 19/16, ILOA Files.
94 Divine, Blowing, 281, 286.
95 Circular by J.H. Oldenbroek, 2, 16 or 21 April 1959, 19/16, ILOA Files.
96 Sixth Meeting, ICFTU Committee on Atomic Energy, ‘Agenda Item 1: Minutes of the Fifth Meeting’, 13 January 1960, pp. 2–5, 19/16, ILOA Files.
97 ICFTU Press Release, ‘ICFTU Granted Consultative Status with International Atomic Energy Agency’, 10 July 1959, Box 1, Folder ‘Press Releases, June – Dec. 1959’ (hereafter June/Dec 1959) ICFTU News and Press Releases, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI (hereafter News/Press).
98 ‘Agenda Item 14: Report of the Committee on Atomic Energy’, 16 June 1959, p. 1, Box 3, Folder 8: ‘Executive Board, 29–4 Jun July 1959’, ILOA Files.
99 Ibid., 1-2
100 Ibid., 1–3.
101 Divine, Blowing, 299–304, 310–14.
102 Sixth Meeting, ICFTU Committee on Atomic Energy, ‘Cooperation with the Training Programme of the IAEA’, 18 March 1960, p. 1, 19/16, ILOA Files.
103 Ibid., 1.
104 Ibid., 1.
105 Ibid., 1–2.
106 Stanley Ruttenberg, ‘Report on ICFTU Meeting of Atomic Energy Committee’, 5 April 1960, p. 1, 19/16, ILOA Files.
107 Ibid., 2.
108 Ibid., 4–7.
109 Ibid., 3.
110 International Labour Organization, ‘C115 – Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115)’, https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_INSTRUMENT_ID:312260#A23 accessed 16 March 2022.
111 ICFTU Press Release, ‘Free Trade Unions Concerned About Nuclear Weapons Tests’, 26 August 1959, June/Dec 1959, News/Press; AFRO Secretariat Press Release, ‘Protest Against French Atomic Bomb Explosion in the Sahara’, 28 December 1960, Folder 3932: ‘African Regional Organization (AFRO). General Correspondence. With Reports. 1960–1973: 1960’, ICFTU/ITUC Archives, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
112 ‘Resolution on Nuclear Bomb Testing’, 3 December 1964, Box 4, Folder 10: ‘Executive Board, 20–3 Nov December 1964’, ILOA Files; ‘Resolution on Chinese Nuclear Tests’, 16 March 1965, Box 4, Folder 12: ‘Executive Board, 1965’, ILOA Files; ‘Draft Resolution on Nuclear Tests’, 28–30 June 1966, pp. 1–2, Box 4, Folder 15: ‘Executive Board, 1966’, ILOA Files.
113 ICFTU Press Release, ‘ICFTU Horrified at Giant Nuclear Explosion’, 2 November 1961, p. 1, Box 1, Folder: ‘ICFTU Press Releases, Nov. 1961 – Jan. 1962’, News/Press; ICFTU Press Release, ‘ICFTU Deplores Soviet Nuclear Testing Plans’, 7 September 1961, pp. 1–2, Box 1, Folder: ‘ICFTU Press Releases, Sept. – Oct. 1961’, News/Press.
114 News from ICFTU, ‘ICFTU Deplores Nuclear Test Resumption, Blames USSR For Breaching Truce Last Fall’, 2 or 3 May 1962, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. News. 1959–1962 (book), Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.
115 Omer Becu to John F. Kennedy, 20 October 1961, p. 2, Box 11, Folder 10: ‘Correspondence, 1961’, ILOA Files.
116 ‘Opinion: Partial Ban’, Free Labour World, September 1963, p. 1, Box 1: ‘1950–1954, 1963–1967’, Folder: ‘Free Labour World, 1963’, ICFTU. Free Labour World, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.
117 Ibid.; ‘Resolution on Peace and Disarmament’, 4–6 October 1967, p. 1, Box 12, Folder 10: ‘Matters, 1962–1969’ (hereafter 12/10), ILOA Files.
118 ‘Agenda Item 5: The Present State of the Disarmament Discussion’, 30 September 1959, p. 1–2, Box 6, Folder 20: ‘Subcommittee, 1–2 Oct 1959’, ILOA Files.
119 Ibid., 3.
120 ‘Agenda Item 4(e): Emergency Resolutions – Draft Statement on an Enduring Peace and Universal Disarmament’, 26 November 1959, pp. 1–2, Box 5, Folder 14; ‘ICFTU; Proceedings, Executive Board meeting, 1959’, Kemsley Papers.
121 ‘Statement on Soviet Withdrawal From Disarmament Conference’, 4 July 1960, Box 6, Folder 5: ‘ICFTU-27th EBM Brussels, 27 June – 2 July 1960’, Krane Papers; Circular by Omer Becu, ‘United Nations General Assembly: Resolution on Disarmament Committee’, 29 December 1961, pp. 1–2, Box 26, Folder 13: ‘Circulars, 1961–1963’, ILOA Files.
122 ‘Resolution on the Work of the Disarmament Committee’, 13 March 1962, Box 6, Folder 26: ‘Subcommittee Meeting, 12–13 Mar 1962’, ILOA Files.
123 ‘ICFTU Statement to the 17th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations’, 20 September 1962, p. 12, Box 62, Folder 12: ‘(ICFTU): New York Office, 1961–1963’, RG1-038. Office of the President. George Meany Files, 1940–1980, The George Meany Memorial AFL-CIO Archives, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
124 ICFTU Economic and Social Bulletin, September/November 1963, p. 5, Box 11, Folder 15: ‘Correspondence, 1964’, ILOA Files; ‘ICFTU Statement to the 20th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations’, 21 September 1965, p. 2, Box 11, Folder 17: ‘Correspondence, 1965’, ILOA Files; ICFTU Press Release, ‘ICFTU Decisions Submitted to U Thant’, 19 October 1967, p. 1, Box 41, Folder 21: ‘ICFTU (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions), 1967–1968’, RG18-003. International Affairs Department. Jay Lovestone Files, 1939–1974, The George Meany Memorial AFL-CIO Archives, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (hereafter Lovestone Files).
125 Circular by Harm Buiter, ‘Peace and Disarmament’, 23 October 1967, 12/10, ILOA Files.
126 Ibid.
127 ICFTU Press Release, ‘ICFTU Statement to International Atomic Energy Agency’, 17 October 1968, p. 1, Box 11, Folder 23: ‘Correspondence, 1968’, ILOA Files.