It was formed in 1950 through a merger of PFL and EPFL and in the following years became the dominant trade union centre through government sponsorship.
Bashir Ahmad Khan Bakhtiar and Chaudry Rehmatullah led the West Pakistan Federation of Labour, while Aftab Ali and Faiz Ahmed led the East Pakistan Federation of Labour.
[3] This led to an exodus of left-wing trade unionists from APCOL, especially from the more communist-aligned East Pakistan unions.
[4] However, following the 1958 Pakistani coup d'état, trade union activity was suppressed and APCOL started declining.
More splinters followed, including the All Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions (APFTU) led by Bashir Ahmad Khan Bakhtiar and Khurshid Ahmad and the All Pakistan Federation of Labour (APFOL) under Rehmatullah Durrani and Chaudry Rehmatullah.