Claiming 157 million members in 225 affiliated organisations in 148 countries and territories, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) came into being on December 7, 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). December 7 is the 341st day (342nd on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1949 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) was established in the wake of the Second World War to bring together trade unions across the world in a single international organization, much like the United Nations. ...

Alleging Communist domination of the WFTU's central institutions, a large number of non-communist national trade union federations (including the U.S. AFL-CIO, the British TUC, the French CFDT, the Italian CISL and the Spanish UGT) seceded and created the rival ICFTU at a conference in London attended by representatives of nearly 48 million members in 53 countries. Communism refers to a theoretical system of social organization and a political movement based on common ownership of the means of production. ... The AFL-CIO is the largest labor union federation in the United States. ... Trades Union Congress headquarters at Congress House in Great Russell Street near Tottenham Court Road, Camden, London. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ...

From the 1950s the ICFTU actively recruited new members from the developing regions of first Asia and subsequently Africa. Following the collapse of Communist party government in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, the Federation's membership has risen steeply from 87 million in 1988 and 100 million in 1992. // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the baby boom from returning... World map showing Asia (geographically) Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia and worlds largest continent. ... // Etymology World map showing Africa (geographically) The name Africa came into Western use through the Romans, who used the name Africa terra — land of the Afri (plural, or Afer singular) — for the northern part of the continent, as the province of Africa with its capital Carthage, corresponding to modern-day... World map showing Europe (geographically) When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

The ICFTU has three regional organisations, APRO for Asia and the Pacific, AFRO for Africa, and ORIT for the Americas. The ICFTU also maintains close links with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) (which includes all ICFTU European affiliates) and Global Union Federations, which link together national unions from a particular trade or industry at international level. The ICFTU Asia and Pacific Regional Organisation (ICFTU-APRO) is a regional organisation of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions representing trade unions from countries in Asia and Oceania. ... The ICFTU African Regional Organisation (ICFTU-AFRO) is a regional organisation of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, representing trade unions fom countries in Africa. ... The ICFTU Inter American Regional Organisation of Workers (CIOSL/ORIT) is a regional organisation of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions representing trade unions from the Americas. ... The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) was established in 1973 to provide a trade union counterbalance to the economic forces of European integration. ...

Central to the ICFTU's work has been the struggle to defend workers' rights. The ICFTU lobbies for the ratification of what it calls "core labour standards" -- the various conventions of the International Labour Organization. For other meanings of the ILO abbreviation, see ILO (disambiguation). ...

The ICFTU has staff which are devoted entirely to the monitoring and defense of workers rights, and they issue -- almost on a daily basis -- alerts and calls to action. Every June, the ICFTU publishes its "Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights" which is essential reading for those who are concerned with these issues. The publication of that report is usually accompanied by extensive press coverage of the violations of trade union rights around the globe, often focussing on the numbers of people killed simply for being members of unions.

In its constitution, the organization pledged itself to "champion the cause of human freedom, promote equality of opportunity for all people, seek to eliminate everywhere in the world any form of discrimination or subjugation based on race, religion, sex or origin, oppose and combat totalitarianism and aggression in any form".

That constitution lists no fewer than seventeen aims of the organization and it has been argued that the ICFTU from its very beginning set itself goals that would be impossible to achieve -- particularly with a small staff and budget. For example, the organization's constitution requires it "to carry out a programme of trade union and workers’ education" as well as to give "assistance to those suffering from the consequences of natural and industrial disasters".

External link

• ICFTU's official website