The International Federation Textile-Clothing (IFTC/FITH) was an International Trade Federation of the

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

(WCL).

History

The federation traced its history to 1901, when the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions of Textile Workers was established at a meeting in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

. The organisation ceased to operate during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, but was revived in 1921.''Yearbook of International Organizations'' (1997), vol.1A By 1935, it had affiliates in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland. It later merged with the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions in the Clothing and Allied Trades, and changed its name to the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions of Textile and Garment Workers, then in 1971 it became the International Federation of Textile and Clothing Workers' Unions. In 2006, the WCL merged with 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 when ...

, and in November 2007, the IFTC merged into the

International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation The International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) was a global union federation. In 2005 it had 217 member organizations in 110 countries, representing a combined membership of over 10 million workers. History The ITGLW ...

(ITGLWF).

Organisation

The federation worked closely with the Latin American Federation of Industrial and Construction Workers (FLATIC), and the Asian Trade Federation for the Mixed Industries Group, both WCL-affiliated bodies. In Europe, it instead worked with the European Trade Union Committee for Textiles, Clothing and Leather, which was dominated by ITGLWF affiliates.

Leadership

General Secretaries

:1921: Albert van der Meijs :1940s: H. A. C. Huysmans :1974: Clem Pauwels :1990s: Bart Bruggeman :2000s: Jaap Jongejan

Presidents

:1921: Bernhard Otte :1933: Heinrich Fahrenbach :1940s: Prosper van Wesemael :1970s: Lucien Fruru :1990s: Jacques Jouret :2000s: Dirk Uyttenhove

References

External links

www.cmt-wcl.org
detail from the WCL website. World Confederation of Labour Trade unions established in 1901 Trade unions disestablished in 2007 {{Trade-union-stub