HISTORY

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), was set up in 1949 and has 241 affiliated organisations in 156 countries and territories on all five continents, with a membership of 155 million, 40% of who are women.
It has three major regional organisations, APRO for Asia and the Pacific, AFRO for Africa, and ORIT for the Americas. It 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.

MEMBERSHIP

It is a Confederation of national trade union centres, each of which links together the trade unions of that particular country. Membership is open to bona fide trade union organisations, that are independent of outside influence, and have a democratic structure.

FINANCES

Its activities are financed by the fees paid by member organisations.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

The ICFTU cooperates closely with the International Labour Organisation and has consultative status with the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council and with specialised agencies such as UNESCO, FAO, etc. It maintains contacts with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation and has offices in Geneva, New York and Washington.

PRIORITIES FOR ACTION

The five main ICFTU priorities are:

- employment and international labour standards,

- tackling the multinationals,

- trade union rights,

- equality, women, race and migrants,

- trade union organisation and recruitment.

PUBLICATIONS

The ICFTU produces a number of publications each year on particular themes. Each June it publishes a Survey of Trade Union Rights, which gives details of more than 115 countries which violate basic trade union rights norms.