Nowadays, CUT is the largest and most important trade union federation in Brazil, representing over 7.4 million workers in all productive areas.

The main practice of varguismo and its leaders was to try to integrate trade unions and the Ministry of Labor, once the President had based his policy for the area using the Carta del Lavoro of Fascist Italy as a role model.

CUT arose as an alternative to this model, claiming to be part of the "new labour movement", independent from the federal government.

In March 2004, some union leaders unsatisfied with the organization's close ties with the Lula administration split from CUT in order to form the Coordenação Nacional de Lutas (Conlutas, English: National Coordination of Struggles).

[2] The following year, leaders tied to PSOL and the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) formed the Instrumento de Luta e Organização da Classe Trabalhadora (Intersindical, English: Instrument of Struggle and Organisation of the Working Class)[3] and, in 2007, leaders linked to the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) formed the Central dos Trabalhadores e Trabalhadoras do Brasil (CTB, English: Central of Male and Female Workers of Brazil).