During World War II, Schevenels ran the IFTU from London, and closely followed the policies of the British Trades Union Congress (TUC). The TUC, in response, tried to get him elected as the first general secretary of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), but he was instead made assistant general secretary, with responsibility for industry. A few years later, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) was formed as an anti-communist split from the WFTU, and Schevenels again hoped to be elected as general secretary, but was opposed by the American Federation of Labor on the grounds that he had co-operated with communists in the WFTU. Instead, he became the secretary of the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD and soon also of the European Regional Organisation of the ICFTU, serving until his death in 1966.
