Global union federation

A global union federation (GUF) is an international federation of national and regional trade unions organising in specific industry sectors or occupational groups, previously known as international trade secretariats [ITSs].

Most major unions are members of one or more global union federations, relevant to the sectors where they have their members. Normally, the individual union will also be affiliated to a national trade union center, which in turn can be affiliated to a world body such as the International Trade Union Confederation, ITUC.

Together with the ITUC and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD, ten global union federations jointly own and manage the web site Global Unions. The Global Union Federations supported the publication of a history of the movement -- Making a World of Difference: Global Unions at Work -- which was published to coincide with the launch of the ITUC in 2006. This can be downloaded from the Global Unions website. Richard Croucher and Elizabeth Cotton's Global Unions, Global Business, Middlesex University Press (2009). explains how the GUFs really work, how they are funded, analyses their current situations and discusses their relations with companies.

List of global union federations

• Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI)
• Education International (EI)
• IndustriALL Global Union, which is the merger of the International Metalworkers' Federation(IMF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM)and of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) in June 2012
• International Arts and Entertainment Alliance (IAEA)
• International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
• International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF)
• International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Association (IUF)
• Public Services International (PSI)
• UNI global union (UNI)

See also

• Global Unions