International Trade Union Confederation

History

Background

The ITUC traces its origins back to the First International (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.

Founding congress

The federation was formed on 1 November 2006 out of the merger of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the World Confederation of Labour (WCL). The Founding Congress of the ITUC was held in Vienna and was preceded by the dissolution congresses of both the ICFTU and the WCL. A council of Global Unions was also formed on the final day of the congress. It was established jointly with ten global union federations and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC).

Global Rights Index

In 2014, the ITUC debuted the Global Rights Index, which ranks nations on 97 metrics pertaining to workers' rights, such as freedom from violent conditions and the right to strike and unionize. According to the 2020 update of the Index, there has been a significant increase in violations of workers' rights around the world.

Qatari corruption scandal

In 2022, Luca Visentini, the IUTC's General Secretary, was arrested as part of the Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament, which allegedly involved the state of Qatar paying large sums of cash for influence at the European Parliament. After two days in custody, he was conditionally released. It was revealed that Visenti's successful campaign to lead the IUTC was financed in part by a nonprofit run by Antonio Panzeri, a former lawmaker that has admitted working as an agent of Qatar. Visentini also received a free flight to Qatar, paid for by the Qatari government.