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GLI History Project: The Story of Our International Labour Movement

GLI is pleased to announce that our new book ‘The Story of our International Labour Movement’ is now available to read and download.

In 2019, the GLI launched a new programme on the history of the international trade union movement, including a book on the history of the international trade union movement, accompanied by education projects to be undertaken with national and international unions. 

Supported by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), the project explores the influence of different radical political ideas, the struggles for liberation and independence, the growth of unions in the global south, the impact of war and revolution, and the challenges of globalization, financialization, precariousness and environmental destruction. 

It is designed to introduce activists who are new to the international movement, and those active in local and national trade unions, to current important issues and debates within the international labour movement, and their long histories.

‘The Story of our International Labour Movement’ was written because GLI believes that the international labour movement can play an important role in changing the world. It is hoped that this book can provide trade unionists and activists with a guide to some of the different important organisations, campaigns, and ideas within the international labour movement and show how these have developed over time. By looking at the history of the working class movement across the globe, labour activists can be better equipped to discuss, debate, strategize, collaborate, and ultimately transform the world to create a system that works for all of us.

This book was produced as part of the GLI History Project.

Click here to read and download the book in English.

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News and events

GLU Conference: GLI Panel on ‘Learning from the History of the International Trade Union Movement

‘Learning from the History of the International Trade Union Movement’ – Panel organised by the Global Labour Institute Manchester as part of the 15th Global Labour University Annual Conference. March 31st, 14:30-16:15 CEST.

This panel is a chance to find out about the history project that GLI Manchester is working on, with financial support from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

As part of the project, GLI Manchester is producing an illustrated trade union history book. The text is an introduction to the history of the international labour movement, the structures that make it up, and key ideas, debates, and incidents which have shaped it. This text will be available on the GLI website from the summer of 2022. 

The panel will begin with a presentation from the text’s author, Daniel Edmonds, outlining some of the key principles that can be drawn from the movement’s history, and the perspectives which have informed the writing of it.

This will be followed by a roundtable discussion featuring four activists from the international labour movement, talking about the value of labour history to their different organisations, sectors, and regions. The rountable participants are:

  • Baba Aye (Public Services International) 
  • Karin Pape (Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing / International Domestic Workers Federation)
  • Josua Mata (SENTRO, Philippines)
  • Daniela Biocca (International Transport Workers Federation)

This event is a break-out session within Global Labour University’s fifteenth annual conference, ‘Building a Post-Pandemic World of Work with Social Justice’, which will take place from March 30th– April 1st, and April 4th-5th.

The conference is free to attend and will take place online, with sessions hosted on Zoom. Attendance is free for everyone, and you can register here.

Viewers of the panel will be able to contribute questions and comments to all panellists. We look forward to seeing you there and hearing from you!