by Mike Hall, Nov 1, 2006

After more than 57 years of fighting for global justice for the world’s workers, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) is strengthening its mission by combining with other international organizations to create a new organization: the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

The 241 labor organizations from 156 countries and territories that make up the ICFTU, which will be dissolved this week during a conference in Vienna, are joining with the World Confederation of Labor (WCL) and eight other trade organizations that have not affiliated at the international level. The two groups currently represent more than 180 million workers, and the new ITUC will represent more than 190 million workers around the globe.

On its website, the ICFTU says:

In order to tackle the new challenges presented by economic globalization, the international trade union movement needs to reinforce and modernize itself. Dialogue between the two democratic international trade union organizations, once difficult, is finally leading to the creation of a new trade union international.

In a recent article in London’s Financial Times, ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder and WCL General Secretary Willy Thys wrote:

The shift in income away from labor towards capital is widely felt. Workers feel it in stagnant or falling wages, with half of those employed around the world living in poverty. Meanwhile, businesses enjoy record profits. Governments pay more attention to those who tell them to be unobtrusive than to their citizens, who demand that they fulfill their obligations of provision and protection.

Trade unions do not want anyone excluded from the global economy nor believe they can be. But they do want it subjected to reasonable regulation applicable to all countries, along with respect for workers’ rights. Similarly, capital will continue to be internationally mobile, and the world division of labor will evolve accordingly.

While we proclaim our commitment to changing the world, we sometimes have trouble changing ourselves. This is where the ITUC comes in. With some 400 affiliates in more than 150 countries, it is a chance to make history.

Find out more about the global economy at the AFL-CIO’s Job, Wages and Global Economy website.

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