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General Confederation of Labour (Portugal)
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General Confederation of Labour (Portugal)
The General Confederation of Labour (Portuguese: Confederação Geral do Trabalho; CGT) was a Portuguese trade union confederation. Established in 1919, as the successor to the National Workers' Union (UON), the CGT was the only national trade union centre in Portugal throughout the early 1920s. The organisation was led largely by anarcho-syndicalists, who declared the CGT to be independent of all political parties and proclaimed its goal to be the abolition of capitalism and the state. Opposed to Bolshevism, it refused to join the Red International of Labour Unions (RILU) and instead joined the International Workers' Association (IWA), which was aligned with anarcho-syndicalism. An internal schism between the syndicalist leadership and members of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) followed, as unions aligned with the latter broke off from the CGT. Following the establishment of a military dictatorship in Portugal, the CGT led a workers' uprising against it, but they were defeated, the organisation banned and many of their members exiled to Africa. After the establishment of the fascist Estado Novo regime, the CGT attempted to resist the creation of a corporatist economy and led a general strike against it, but this too was suppressed. The CGT's secretary general then attempted to assassinate the dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, but was unsuccessful. The CGT was ultimately driven underground and eventually disappeared, as the fascist regime was consolidated in Portugal.
During the late 19th century, trade unions in Portugal were largely dominated by the Portuguese Socialist Party (PSP); Portuguese anarchists held a comparatively minor amount of influence. In the 1890s, anarchists began to gain influence over trade union movement. As strikes and direct actions increased in frequency, more unions aligned with anarchism and revolutionary syndicalism. This process culminated in the late 1900s, with the establishment of regional labour federations in Lisbon and Porto, which aimed to establish workers' control over the economy. By the proclamation of the First Portuguese Republic in 1910, syndicalists had displaced the socialists as the dominant force within the Portuguese labour movement. A wave of strikes followed, with one general strike briefly establishing workers' control over Lisbon. After the government responded by increasing repression against the labour movement, in 1914, socialists and syndicalists came together in a coalition and established the National Workers' Union (UON). The outbreak of World War I caused widespread unrest in Portugal, as workers protested, rioted and went on strike. By 1917, anarcho-syndicalists had gained control of the UON.
Following the end of the war and the subsequent defeat of the UON's general strike in November 1918, the labour movement felt the need to reorganise itself for the purposes of taking power. Despite the setback, the Portuguese working class continued organising, as they faced increasing unemployment and a continually rising cost of living, which pushed workers to fight for the eight-hour day. In September 1919, a second national workers' congress was held in Coimbra, where the UON was reorganised into the General Confederation of Labour (Portuguese: Confederação Geral do Trabalho; CGT). The CGT was established to coordinate Portugal's various trade unions, local confederations and national federations, each of which was given a free vote on whether to join the CGT. At the time of its founding, the CGT was the only national trade union confederation in the country.
In December 1920, the CGT declared its support for an international syndicalist conference, which had been convened in Berlin to discuss whether revolutionary unions would affiliate themselves with the newly-established Red International of Labour Unions (RILU). The CGT ultimately decided not to join the RILU. In June 1922, the CGT was invited to another international syndicalist conference in Berlin, where the establishment of an independent revolutionary trade union international was to be discussed. But CGT delegates were unable to attend, as they were facing domestic problems. The Argentine delegate Diego Abad de Santillán, speaking on behalf of the CGT, declared their support for a new international.
After the delegates of the Berlin conference endorsed the establishment of a new international, in October 1922, the CGT convened a national congress to discuss the issue, with 55 local unions supporting the proposal and 22 favouring affiliating with the RILU. The CGT thus endorsed the constitutional congress of the International Workers' Association (IWA), which took place in Berlin in December 1922. In October 1924, out of 110 unions affiliated with the CGT, 104 supported affiliation with the IWA and only 6 supported the RILU.
Although Portuguese workers remained staunchly militant throughout the early 1920s, the CGT's membership experienced a decline. Some members of the CGT attributed the organisation's falling membership numbers to internal political conflicts, which caused workers to leave the organisation and only rejoin when workplace conflicts broke out. Historians Bernhard H. Bayerlein and Marcel van der Linden attributed the declining membership to the fact that the CGT largely organised skilled workers and artisans, while neglecting lower-class labourers. They noted four key factors that affected the CGT during the early 1920s: their membership was largely concentrated in the large industrial cities of Lisbon, Porto and Covilhã; their actions were spontaneous and short-lived, often dispersing without achieving long-term improvements; a hierarchy emerged between skilled and unskilled workers; and state repression increased, while business owners concentrated into employers' organisations.
Facing a sustained decline in its membership numbers, in 1922, the CGT held a third national workers congress in Covilha, where it made the decision to restructure itself. From that point on, the CGT opened its membership to artists' and students' unions, as well as tenants unions, consumers' co-operatives and solidarity groups. The CGT continued to lead strike actions over the following years, and in February 1925, it organised the largest political demonstration in the history of Portugal, with over 100,000 workers participating.
By this time, the CGT was facing an internal schism between syndicalists and communists. The nascent Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), which had been established by a coalition of anarchists, syndicalists and left-wing socialists, initially called on its members to organise within the CGT. The syndicalist leadership of the CGT attempted to block any public debates with the communists, and in 1925, party members were prohibited from attending the CGT's congress at Santarém. Communist-aligned unions, including the sailors' and dockers' federation and some agricultural workers' unions, began splitting off, with the PCP establishing its own trade union centre in 1926.
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General Confederation of Labour (Portugal)
The General Confederation of Labour (Portuguese: Confederação Geral do Trabalho; CGT) was a Portuguese trade union confederation. Established in 1919, as the successor to the National Workers' Union (UON), the CGT was the only national trade union centre in Portugal throughout the early 1920s. The organisation was led largely by anarcho-syndicalists, who declared the CGT to be independent of all political parties and proclaimed its goal to be the abolition of capitalism and the state. Opposed to Bolshevism, it refused to join the Red International of Labour Unions (RILU) and instead joined the International Workers' Association (IWA), which was aligned with anarcho-syndicalism. An internal schism between the syndicalist leadership and members of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) followed, as unions aligned with the latter broke off from the CGT. Following the establishment of a military dictatorship in Portugal, the CGT led a workers' uprising against it, but they were defeated, the organisation banned and many of their members exiled to Africa. After the establishment of the fascist Estado Novo regime, the CGT attempted to resist the creation of a corporatist economy and led a general strike against it, but this too was suppressed. The CGT's secretary general then attempted to assassinate the dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, but was unsuccessful. The CGT was ultimately driven underground and eventually disappeared, as the fascist regime was consolidated in Portugal.
During the late 19th century, trade unions in Portugal were largely dominated by the Portuguese Socialist Party (PSP); Portuguese anarchists held a comparatively minor amount of influence. In the 1890s, anarchists began to gain influence over trade union movement. As strikes and direct actions increased in frequency, more unions aligned with anarchism and revolutionary syndicalism. This process culminated in the late 1900s, with the establishment of regional labour federations in Lisbon and Porto, which aimed to establish workers' control over the economy. By the proclamation of the First Portuguese Republic in 1910, syndicalists had displaced the socialists as the dominant force within the Portuguese labour movement. A wave of strikes followed, with one general strike briefly establishing workers' control over Lisbon. After the government responded by increasing repression against the labour movement, in 1914, socialists and syndicalists came together in a coalition and established the National Workers' Union (UON). The outbreak of World War I caused widespread unrest in Portugal, as workers protested, rioted and went on strike. By 1917, anarcho-syndicalists had gained control of the UON.
Following the end of the war and the subsequent defeat of the UON's general strike in November 1918, the labour movement felt the need to reorganise itself for the purposes of taking power. Despite the setback, the Portuguese working class continued organising, as they faced increasing unemployment and a continually rising cost of living, which pushed workers to fight for the eight-hour day. In September 1919, a second national workers' congress was held in Coimbra, where the UON was reorganised into the General Confederation of Labour (Portuguese: Confederação Geral do Trabalho; CGT). The CGT was established to coordinate Portugal's various trade unions, local confederations and national federations, each of which was given a free vote on whether to join the CGT. At the time of its founding, the CGT was the only national trade union confederation in the country.
In December 1920, the CGT declared its support for an international syndicalist conference, which had been convened in Berlin to discuss whether revolutionary unions would affiliate themselves with the newly-established Red International of Labour Unions (RILU). The CGT ultimately decided not to join the RILU. In June 1922, the CGT was invited to another international syndicalist conference in Berlin, where the establishment of an independent revolutionary trade union international was to be discussed. But CGT delegates were unable to attend, as they were facing domestic problems. The Argentine delegate Diego Abad de Santillán, speaking on behalf of the CGT, declared their support for a new international.
After the delegates of the Berlin conference endorsed the establishment of a new international, in October 1922, the CGT convened a national congress to discuss the issue, with 55 local unions supporting the proposal and 22 favouring affiliating with the RILU. The CGT thus endorsed the constitutional congress of the International Workers' Association (IWA), which took place in Berlin in December 1922. In October 1924, out of 110 unions affiliated with the CGT, 104 supported affiliation with the IWA and only 6 supported the RILU.
Although Portuguese workers remained staunchly militant throughout the early 1920s, the CGT's membership experienced a decline. Some members of the CGT attributed the organisation's falling membership numbers to internal political conflicts, which caused workers to leave the organisation and only rejoin when workplace conflicts broke out. Historians Bernhard H. Bayerlein and Marcel van der Linden attributed the declining membership to the fact that the CGT largely organised skilled workers and artisans, while neglecting lower-class labourers. They noted four key factors that affected the CGT during the early 1920s: their membership was largely concentrated in the large industrial cities of Lisbon, Porto and Covilhã; their actions were spontaneous and short-lived, often dispersing without achieving long-term improvements; a hierarchy emerged between skilled and unskilled workers; and state repression increased, while business owners concentrated into employers' organisations.
Facing a sustained decline in its membership numbers, in 1922, the CGT held a third national workers congress in Covilha, where it made the decision to restructure itself. From that point on, the CGT opened its membership to artists' and students' unions, as well as tenants unions, consumers' co-operatives and solidarity groups. The CGT continued to lead strike actions over the following years, and in February 1925, it organised the largest political demonstration in the history of Portugal, with over 100,000 workers participating.
By this time, the CGT was facing an internal schism between syndicalists and communists. The nascent Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), which had been established by a coalition of anarchists, syndicalists and left-wing socialists, initially called on its members to organise within the CGT. The syndicalist leadership of the CGT attempted to block any public debates with the communists, and in 1925, party members were prohibited from attending the CGT's congress at Santarém. Communist-aligned unions, including the sailors' and dockers' federation and some agricultural workers' unions, began splitting off, with the PCP establishing its own trade union centre in 1926.
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