 Coordinated by the General Commission of German Trade Unions until 1919 and later by the General German Trade Union Federation, the Free Trade Unions consisted of forty-six individual labor organizations with a total of 2.5 million members as of 1914.The term "free" was to note that these unions were independent worker organizations.The liberal ("yellow") unions were considered to be controlled by management and the "Christian" trade unions by the Catholic Church.