The Red
International of Labor Unions (RILU) (Russian: Красный интернационал профсоюзов — Krasnyi
internatsional profsoyuzov), commonly known as the Profintern, was an
international body established by the Communist International with the aim of
coordinating Communist activities within trade
unions. Formally established in 1921, the Profintern was intended to act as
a counterweight to the influence of the so-called "Amsterdam
International," the Social Democratic International Federation of
Trade Unions, an organization branded as class collaborationist and an impediment to revolution
by the Comintern.
After entering a period of decline in the middle 1930s, the organization was
finally terminated in 1937 with the advent of the Popular
Front.