AFL-CIO foreign policy : an Algerian example, 1954-1962

• Main Author: France, Judith E.
• Other Authors: Scruton, David L.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Labor unions > Algeria.; AFL-CIO.; Algeria > Foreign economic relations > United States.
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/176227; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/251885

The AFL-CIO established and maintained a foreign affairs organization, independent of the U.S. State Department, between the years 1954 and 1962. It engaged in foreign affairs activities as a means to protect itself and its ideology from domestic and foreign interference, to maintain or enhance domestic power and to satisfy its leaders' interests. What were the union's foreign policy commitments? Why were these chosen and by whom? How were these policies implemented? How effective was the union in fulfilling its commitments?The purpose of this paper is to answer these questions using the AFLCIO's activities in support of the Algerian independence movement, 19541962, as the primary example. Algeria was chosen because American labor actions on behalf of Algerian independence clearly demonstrated labor's principal foreign policy, commitment, viz. anti-Communism, and illustrated two of the main components of this basic policy: ending colonialism and gaining allies for the West.The Algerian example demonstrated the lengths to which labor would go in its struggle against Communism. Algeria was not a colony but an integral part of France, much like Alaska is of the United States. However, because the AFL-CIO leaders feared Communist infiltration of Algeria, they refused to recognize Algeria's legal status and supported its secession from France.In support of independence, American labor used the full range of its foreign policy options, including direct assistance to Algerian trade States to urge France to surrender Algeria. Labor's pursuit of its policies in and for Algeria did not go smoothly. The U.S. continued to supportunionists and indirect assistance to the revolution by pressuring the United France. The French were unrelenting in their opposition to labor's activities. The Algerian nationalists refused to compromise their conditions for accepting direct aid from American labor. Even after Algeria achieved independence, American labor could not be sure it had accomplished its goals. Algeria outlawed the Communist Party but it also refused alignment with the West and muzzled its trade union. American labor had difficulty implementing its policies in Algeria because most American labor leaders held unrealistic expectations regarding the role of labor in independent Algeria.Since it is necessary to document the existence of a separate labor foreign policy organization, an historical sketch is included in this paper. Further, to understand the circumstances surrounding the Algerian independence movement which affect labor's and the U.S. State Department's attitudes and activities, it is useful to know the nature of the relationships among Algeria, France and the U.S. Another historical sketch accomplishes this.The paper demonstratesthat the AFL-CIO (between 1954 and 1962) maintained an independent foreign affairs organization which established and pursued foreign policies. These policies were determined by the AFLCIO leadership and were primarily directed toward combatting Communism by developing free democratic trade union(s). The Algerian example will show that the implementation of union policies yielded inconclusive results due to circumstances largely beyond the union's control, viz. Algeria's determination to become an unaligned nation and its unwillingness to permit its trade union to become a source of potential political and economic opposition.