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General Federation of Trade Unions | |
 | |
| Founded | 1948 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Damascus, Syria |
| Location | |
| Members | 300,000[ citation needed ] |
Key people | Fawaz al-Ahmad, President [1] |
| Affiliations | WFTU [a] ICATU National Progressive Front (until 2025) |
| Website | tss-est https://www.facebook.com/Omalsy/ |
The General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) is a trade union federation that was formerly the sole national trade union center in Syria, it was founded in 1948. By a 1968 decree establishing a single-trade-union system, all trade unions in the country are required to be affiliated to the GFTU, and the GFTU had the power to dissolve the executive committee of any union.
The union was closely linked with the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and the president of the GFTU, Shaaban Azzouz, is a member of the party.
The GFTU was affiliated with the World Federation of Trade Unions [3] and the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions.
Despite the fall of the Assad regime and the proclamation of the dissolution of all National Progressive Front organizations, the GFTU still exists and now cooperates with the Syrian transitional government [4] [5]
On April 4th 2025 the GFTU was suspended from the World Federation of Trade unions saying the GFTU supports the "jihadist regime, which is the result of the interventions of the imperialist powers that want to seize the wealth of the region." [6]
On November 30th the first general conference after the fall of the Assad regime began, with the slogan “A Legacy of Struggle… A Pledge of Giving.” The one day conference began with a history of the history of the GFTU with Fawaz al-Ahmad stating that the GFTU has started to, "revitalize union life, reactivate occupational health and safety programs, and strengthen the workers’ health system by linking routine examinations to workplace requirements." [7]
