ITUC is the result of the breakup of both the WCL and ICFTU for the purposes of uniting under one organisation.
[1] The Council of Global Unions (CGU) held its inaugural meeting in Brussels, 9–10 January 2007.
All GUFs, with the exception of the International Metalworkers' Federation,[citation needed] as well as TUAC, became members of the Council and signed the agreement.
The CGU was created to encourage closer co-operation among global unions in order to act more effectively at the international level to build a more favourable, enabling environment for organising and collective bargaining.
Although Global Unions are described as 'global', this represents more an "aspiration than a reality since they are more accurately described as international bodies with wide coverage that are 'globalising'".