World Confederation of Labour

The World Confederation of Labour (WCL) is an international trade union confederation uniting 144 autonomous and democratic trade unions from 116 countries (October 2001) all over the world. Its head office is located in Brussels, Belgium, and it has over 26 million members, mainly from Third World countries. The last years have been marked by the affiliation of several African and Central and Eastern European organisations.

Founded in 1920 in The Hague (Netherlands) under the name of IFCTU, the WCL is the oldest existing international trade union. It draws its inspiration from humanist, ethical and moral values and protects the interests of the workers, women and men alike, throughout the world. It is in favour of freedom of association, autonomy and union pluralism and, in its pursuit of a greater say in the production process - in particular through joint management - it fights for working conditions in which the human being, and not profit, is the key. Furthermore, it rejects any kind of discrimination and exploitation.