The ICFTU Asia and Pacific Regional Organisation (APRO) was a regional organisation of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), representing trade unions from countries in Asia and Oceania.
History The federation was founded in May 1951 at a meeting in Karachi, as the Asian Regional Organisation. It was initially based in Calcutta, but moved to New Delhi in 1956, and then Singapore in 1988. In 1984 it changed its name to the ICFTU-Asia Pacific Regional Organisation. In 2007, following the merger of the ICFTU and the World Confederation of Labour (WCL), the organisation merged with the WCL's Brotherhood of Asian Trade Unions, to form the ITUC Regional Organisation for Asia and Pacific.
In 2006, the organisation described its aims thus:
The organisation seeks to bring about a just, welfare society with a higher standard of living. It believes that promoting a higher wage policy and the dignity and status of workers through a stronger trade union movement will help achieve this. Equipping workers with the skills to fight for fundamental rights, including the setting up of bona fide trade unions is perhaps its major undertaking. Under its current structure, ICFTU-APRO tackles education, information, social and economic policy, women, human and trade union rights and youth among its areas of work.
Affiliates The following national organisations were affiliated to ICFTU-APRO in 2006: Australia Australian Council of Trade Unions Bangladesh Bangladesh Free Trade Union Congress Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal Bangladesh Labour Federation Jatiya Sramik League Republic of China (Taiwan) Chinese Federation of Labour Cook Islands Cook Islands Workers Association Incorporated Fiji Fiji Trades Union Congress French Polynesia A Tia I Mua Hong Kong Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions Hong Kong & Kowloon Trades Union Council India Hind Mazdoor Sabha Indian National Trade Union Congress Israel General Federation of Labour in Israel Japan Japanese Trade Union Confederation Jordan The General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions Kiribati Kiribati Trades Union Congress South Korea Federation of Korean Trade Unions Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Malaysia Malaysian Trades Union Congress Mongolia Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions Nepal Nepal Trade Union Congress New Caledonia Union Des Syndicates des Oudriers et Employes de Nouvelle Caledonie New Zealand New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Pakistan All Pakistan Federation of Labour All Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions Pakistan National Federation of Trade Unions Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Trade Union Congress Philippines Trade Union Congress of Philippines Samoa Samoa Trades Union Congress Singapore National Trades Union Congress Sri Lanka Ceylon Workers' Congress Thailand Labour Congress of Thailand Thai Trade Union Congress Tonga Friendly Islands Teachers' Association Turkey Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of Turkey Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions The Confederation of Turkish Real Trade Unions Confederation of Public Servants Trade Unions Vanuatu Vanuatu Council of Trade Unions
Leadership General Secretaries 1951: Dhyan Mungat 1956: Govardhan Mapara 1966: V. S. Mathur 1988: Takashi Izumi 2000: Noriyuki Suzuki
Presidents 1953: Robert Edward Jayatilaka 1955: Jose J. Hernandez 1960: P. P. Narayanan 1965: Haruo Wada 1968: Minoru Takita 1969: P. P. Narayanan 1976: Devan Nair 1982: Tadanobu Usami 1988: Gopeshwar 1994: Ken Douglas 2000: Sharan Burrow 2005: Govindasamy Rajasekaran
References