series of key demands to the new government; that the labour bill be passed, that the closed CCUTU clubs be reopened and that curbs on press freedom be lifted. In February, Qavam lifted the martial law and the closed clubs were returned to CCUTU. The curbs on the press were lifted two weeks afterwards. As the economic situation improved in 1947-1948, the influence of the communists amongst the workers declined. There was a sharp decrease in the number of strikes, only five were organized in these years. Ban In early 1949 the Tudeh Party took an initiative to revive CCUTU, but these efforts were interrupted as both the party and CCUTU were banned after an assassination attempt against the Shah in February that year. Several CCUTU activists were arrested. Rousta and seven others were sentenced to death in absentia. In 1952 the CCUTU organization was revived to some extent. Mohammad Mosaddegh didn't formally lift the ban on the organization, but allowed it to operate semi-legally. However, the movement was crushed after the August 1953 coup. Organization Membership CCUTU continued to grow, even after the crackdown on the organization in 1945. As of December 1945, the CCUTU leader Reza Rousta claimed that the organization had 209,750 members. A more conservative estimate, and likely more realistic, was made by the U.S. Labor Attache, which estimated the CCUTU to around 100,000. Its strength was mainly concentrated in the industrial centres of the country. The strength of the organization reached its peak around August 1946. At the time it claimed 400,000 members; out of them 90,000 in the Khuzestan oilfields and 165,000 in the textile industries of the major cities. In total 186 unions were affiliated to CCUTU. Whilst the organization was primarily focused on organizing the modern working class sectors, CCUTU also had a sizeable following amongst traditional wageearners in the bazaars, as well as having several professional unions at its affiliates, such as the Union of Office Employees, the Union of Teachers, the Association of Lawyers, the Syndicate of Engineers and Technicians and the Society of Doctors. However, CCUTU had virtually no members from the peasantry. Press CCUTU published the daily newspaper Zafar ('Victory'). It later began publishing Bashar ('Human'). International affiliation The Iranian government tried to block CCUTU from participating in the founding conference of the World Federation of Trade Unions in Paris in the fall of 1945, by arresting various