Katherine Joynt and Mariane Tsoeu

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) World Congress took place in July this year, leaving a trail of controversy. According to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the conference was disappointingly watered down and simply mirrored other global economic conferences and summits such as the G20 which reinforce the status quo between developedand developing countries. Cosatu and StreetNet, who also attended
the conference, gave their impressions of the conference.

STRUCTURE OF CONFERENCE

ITUC was launched in 2006 after the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) dissolved. ITUC is comprised of 312 affiliated members representing a total of 176 million workers in 156 countries. The organisation holds a global annual conference attended by affiliated members and invited guests to discuss issues that concern workers and their representatives.

The second World Congress of ITUC took place in June 2010 in Vancouver,  Canada. The conference structure is similar to most conferences. Member organisations discuss resolutions at preparatory regional meetings such as in ITUC-Africa, after which amendments to the resolutions are tabled at a General Council meeting. This is followed by a Plenary where about 65 delegates hold discussions on the tabled amendments.

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