The organisation ceased to operate during World War I, but was revived in 1921.
[2] By 1935, it had affiliates in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
[3] It later merged with the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions in the Clothing and Allied Trades, and changed its name to the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions of Textile and Garment Workers, then in 1971 it became the International Federation of Textile and Clothing Workers' Unions.
[2] In 2006, the WCL merged with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, and in November 2007, the IFTC merged into the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF).
In Europe, it instead worked with the European Trade Union Committee for Textiles, Clothing and Leather, which was dominated by ITGLWF affiliates.