The history of international free trade union organisations during the first two decades of the
Cold War is an important but often neglected aspect of the development of post-war labour and
liberalism. In this path-breaking book Rodríguez García fills this void in the historical
literature by offering a comparative analysis of two cases the European Regional Organisation
(ERO) and the Inter-American Regional Workers' Organisation (ORIT) which were created in the
early 1950s as regional branches of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
(ICFTU). The author employs the term 'labour liberalism' to describe their wide variety of
functions. She argues that social democratic and reformist trade unions which made up the bulk
of ICFTU members were fundamentally shaped by liberal values even while calling for the
active participation of organised labour in the planning and implementation of projects
promoting liberal democracy and socio-economic development at home and abroad. By placing
international free trade unionism centre stage this book adds significantly to our
understanding of post-war labour and liberalism.
