The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC; ; ; ) is the world's largest

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

federation.

History

The federation was formed on 1 November 2006 out of the merger of the

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) was an international trade union. It came into being on 7 December 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), and was dissolved on 31 October 2006 whe ...

(ICFTU) and the

World Confederation of Labour The World Confederation of Labour (WCL) was an international labour organization founded in 1920 and based in Europe. Fascist governments of the 1930s repressed the federation and imprisoned many of its leaders, limiting operations until the end o ...

(WCL). The Founding Congress of the ITUC was held in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and was preceded by the dissolution congresses of both the ICFTU and the WCL. The ITUC has three main regional organizations: the Asia-Pacific Regional Organization, the

Trade Union Confederation of the Americas The Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA-CSA) is the regional organization of the International Trade Union Confederation for the Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the total ...

, and the African Regional Organisation. The Trade Union Development Cooperation Network (TUDCN) is an initiative of the ITUC whose main objective is to bring the trade union perspective into international development policy debates and improve the coordination and effectiveness of trade union development cooperation activities. The ITUC represents 207 million workers through its 331 affiliated organizations within 163 countries and territories. Luc Triangle is the current acting General Secretary. The ITUC traces its origins back to the

First International The International Workingmen's Association (IWA; 1864–1876), often called the First International, was a political international which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, social democratic, communist, and anarchist ...

(also known as the International Workingmen's Association) and in 2014 commemorated the 150th anniversary of the founding of the International Working Men's Association at its own world congress held in Berlin. Also in 2014, the ITUC debuted the

Global Rights Index The Global Rights Index is a world-wide assessment of trade union and human rights by country. Updated annually in a report issued by the International Trade Union Confederation, the index rates countries on a scale from 1 (best) through to 5+ ...

, which ranks nations on 97 metrics pertaining to

workers' rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, ...

, such as freedom from violent conditions and the

right to strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became c ...

and unionize. According to the 2020 update of the Index, there has been a significant increase in violations of workers' rights around the world.

Inaugural congress 2006

The founding congress of the ITUC was held from 1 to 3 November 2006 in Vienna, Austria. The first day of the congress saw the formal creation of the ITUC followed by an address by

Juan Somavía Juan Somavía Altamirano (born April 21, 1941) is the former Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO). He was elected to serve as the ninth Director-General of the ILO by the Governing Body on 23 March 1998. On 7 November 2 ...

, the Director-General of the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

(ILO). Day two included

Pascal Lamy Pascal Lamy (born 8 April 1947) is a French political consultant and businessman. He was the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 1 September 2005 to 1 September 2013 for 8 years. In April 2009, WTO members reappointed Lamy ...

, the

Director-General of the World Trade Organization The director-general of the World Trade Organization is the officer of the World Trade Organization (WTO) responsible for supervising and directing the organization's administrative operations. Since the World Trade Organization's decisions are ...

(WTO) responding to panel discussions on the impact of

globalisation Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

, including the topics "Cohesion and chaos – the global institutions" and "Global unions – global companies". Technical difficulties limited Lamy's satellite video link participation. Leadership and officers were elected on the final day of the congress.

Guy Ryder Guy Bernard Ryder (born 3 January 1956) is a British international civil servant who currently serves as Under-Secretary-General for Policy at the United Nations. He was previously Director-General of the International Labour Organization fro ...

, the former general secretary of the ICFTU, was elected to the same position in the new organisation.

Sharan Burrow Sharan Leslie Burrow (born 12 December 1954) is an Australian trade unionist who served as the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) from 2010 to 2022 and as president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions ...

was elected president. A Governing Council was established, with 70 elected members, and 8 additional seats reserved for youth and women's representatives. A council of

Global Unions Global Unions or Council of Global Unions is a website, which is jointly owned and managed by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD, and ten global union federations (GUFs). Formation ...

was also formed on the final day of the congress. It was established jointly with ten

global union federation A global union federation (GUF) is an international List of federations of trade unions, federation of national trade unions organizing in specific industry sectors or occupational groups. Historically, such federations in the social democratic t ...

s and the

Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD The Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) is the interface of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with organized labour. TUAC has 59 affiliated trade union centres in 31 OECD countries, representing more ...

(TUAC).

Second congress 2010

The second congress of the ITUC was held from 21 to 25 June 2010 in Vancouver, Canada. On 25 June 2010, at the conclusion of the congress,

(then ITUC President) was elected General Secretary, succeeding Guy Ryder (who had been elected as Deputy Director General of the

). In anticipation of her election, Burrow had resigned from her position as President of the

Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated trade union, unions and eight t ...

effective 1 July 2010. Speaking to the Congress after her election, Burrow paid tribute to her predecessor and emphasized the continuing role of organized labour in the world's emergence from the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. She also made special mention of the significance of her election as the first female leader of the world's largest trade union (against a background of high workforce participation by women and a Congress 50 per cent of whose delegates were women):

I am a warrior for woman and we still have work to ensure the inclusion of women in the work place and in our unions. The struggles for women are multiple – too often within their families for independence, then in the workplace for rights and equal opportunity, in their unions for access and representation and then as union leaders. But the investment in and participation of women is not only a moral mandate it is an investment in democracy and a bulwark against fundamentalism and oppression. Organising woman is and must continue to be a priority for the ITUC.

Organisation

The

Pan-European Regional Council The Pan-European Regional Council (PERC) is a European trade union organization within the International Trade Union Confederation The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC; ; ; ) is the world's largest trade union federation. His ...

(PERC), a European trade union organisation within the ITUC was formed 19 March 2007. It consists of 87 national trade union centres and a total membership of 87 million. It works closely with the

European Trade Union Confederation The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is the major trade union organisation representing workers at the European level. In its role as a European social partner, the ETUC works both in a consulting role with the European Commission and ...

(ETUC). The ITUC raises capital through charging dues to its member organisations.

Leadership

General Secretaries

:2006:

:2010:

:2022:

Luca Visentini Luca Visentini (born 1969) is an Italian trade unionist. Elected general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) at the organisation's 5th World Congress in Melbourne, Australia, in mid-November 2022, he stood aside on 14 ...

:2023:

Luc Triangle Luc Triangle (born 3 October 1961) is a Belgian trade unionist. Born in Leuven, Triangle joined the youth section of the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions in 1982. He worked for the federation from 1984, holding posts including director of ...

Presidents

:2006:

:2010:

Michael Sommer Michael Sommer (born 15 January 1952) is a German trade unionist leader. He served for 12 years as the chairman of the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB). Early life and career Born in Büderich, now part of Meerbusch, North Rhine-Wes ...

:2014:

João Antonio Felicio João Antonio Felicio (6 November 1950 – 19 March 2020) was a Brazilian trade unionist. Born in Itapuí, Felicio became a butcher at the age of fifteen, but then trained in the arts and in 1973 became a teacher of drawing. In 1977, he fir ...

:2018: Ayuba Wabba :2022: Akiko Gono

Affiliated Organisations

As of 2024 the ITUC has 339 affiliated organisations.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Fabio Bertini (2011), ''Gilliatt e la piovra. Il sindacalismo internazionale dalle origini ad oggi (1776–2006)'', Roma, Aracne * Ed Mustill (2013), ''The Global Labour Movement: An Introduction'', a short guide to the global union federations, the ITUC, and other international bodies

External links

* *
ITUC Global Rights Index 2020
{{Authority control International organisations based in Belgium Trade unions established in 2006 2006 establishments in Austria International and regional union federations