The International Clothing Workers' Federation (IGWF) was a

global union federation A global union federation (GUF) is an international List of federations of trade unions, federation of national trade unions organizing in specific industry sectors or occupational groups. Historically, such federations in the social democratic t ...

representing workers involved in making and repairing clothes.

History

The federation was established in 1893 at a conference in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. The following year, it established headquarters in

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, moving to

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in 1920. It held conferences in different European locations every three to four years. In 1925, the International Furriers' Secretariat merged into the organisation, giving the organisation 29 affiliates with a total of 315,000 members. The federation ceased to operate during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but was re-established in 1946, based in London. In 1949, it was refounded as the International Garment Workers' Federation, which in 1960 merged with the International Federation of Textile Workers' Associations to form the International Textile and Garment Workers' Federation.

Affiliates

In 1954, the following unions were affiliated to the federation:

Leadership

General Secretaries

:1894:

Clara Zetkin Clara Zetkin (; ; ''née'' Eißner ; 5 July 1857 – 20 June 1933) was a German Marxist theorist, communist activist, and advocate for women's rights. Until 1917, she was active in the Social Democratic Party of Germany. She then joined the Inde ...

:1900:

Heinrich Stühmer Heinrich Stühmer (14 January 1863 – October 1945) was a German people, German trade unionist. Born in Bünzen, near Aukrug, Stühmer was orphaned at an early age. He excelled at school and hoped to become a teacher, but could not fund the ...

:1920: Tonnis van der Heeg :1946: Andrew Conley :1949: Ian Milner :1956:

John Newton John Newton (; – 21 December 1807) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric and slavery Abolitionism, abolitionist. He had previously been a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. He served as a sailor in the Royal Nav ...

Presidents

:1910s: William P. Arup :1920: Martin Plettl :1933: Josef Andersson :as of 1957: Per Petterson

References

{{Authority control Global union federations Clothing industry trade unions Trade unions established in 1893 Trade unions disestablished in 1960