The Central Council of United Trade Unions (abbreviated CCUTU, , 'Central United Council of the Trade Unions of Workers and Toilers of Iran') was a trade union centre in Iran. History Founding CCUTU was founded through the merger of two hitherto antagonistic unions, the Central Council (the union aligned with the Tudeh Party) and the majority faction of the Central Board. The merger was declared on May 1, 1944. On May 8, 1944, a smaller union centre, the Union of Toilers of Iran, merged into CCUTU, followed by the affiliation of the Railway Workers' Association to CCUTU on June 20, 1944. At the time of its founding, CCUTU had sixty affiliated unions. Gradually, the Tudeh Party consolidated its influence over the organization. On July 6, 1944, a shared leadership was announced. Ebrahim Mahzari and Resa Ebrahimzadeh (a communist and former prisoner) were assigned co-chairmen of the CCUTU. On June 18, 1945 the co-chairmen were converted to 'secretaries'. Moreover, a third secretary (Reza Rousta) was appointed. By the autumn of 1945, Rousta was referred to as the sole secretary of the organization. Anti-government campaigns In the autumn of 1944, CCUTU and the Tudeh Party staged a campaign against the Iranian government, demanding oil concessions for the Soviet Union in northern Iran. CCUTU and the party organized a protest, with around 12,000 participants, demanding the dismissal of Prime Minister Mohammad Sa'ed. At the time of the end of the Second World War, an unemployment crisis emerged in Iran as war-related industries began laying off workers. The CCUTU organ Zafar called on the people to overthrow the government. In response, the offices of CCUTU and the Tudeh Party in Teheran were closed down, CCUTU and Tudeh leaders arrested and the publishing of Zafar (and 13 other newspapers) was stopped. In Mazadaran in northern Iran, workers seized large factories and railroad junctions to protest the crackdown. Azerbaijan On September 7, 1945 the local CCUTU branches in Azerbaijan (along with local Tudeh Party branches) declared their affiliation to the newly founded Democratic Party of Azerbaijan. The move was made without prior consultation with the CCUTU and Tudeh Party leadership in Tehran. The local CCUTU chairman, Muhammud Biriya, was elected to the Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan at the party congress held in October 1945. 1946-1948 After Ahmad Qavam had been elected Prime Minister by the Majles in January 1946, CCUTU issued a