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The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is the single umbrella organisation for trade unions on the island of Ireland. Congress is the largest civil society organisation on the island. It is the body representing over 800,000 workers affiliated through 64 trade unions in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The organisation is required, through its mission statement, to strive to achieve economic development, social cohesion and justice by upholding the values of solidarity, fairness and equality.

The Northern Ireland Committee (NIC) of the ICTU is the representative body for 34 trade unions with over 200,000 members across Northern Ireland. In membership terms, it is the largest civil society organisation in Northern Ireland.

How Congress supports its affiliates

Congress supports trade unions to grow and thrive, helping them represent their members and keep pace with the changing world of work. And just as workers benefit by joining together in a union, so unions gain strength by acting together through ICTU.

NIC-ICTU co-ordinates union representation on public bodies and tribunals and advocates on behalf of union members through formal discussions with government. We participate with international and European trade union bodies. We also speak on behalf of the union movement in the media.

We campaign for safer and more equal workplaces, collective bargaining and better pay with secure conditions for all workers.

We help unions to grow, running an extensive trade union education programme as well as working with  unions and government to deliver  skills training including  numeracy, literacy and IT skills directly to workers in their workplaces through Union Learn.

We work with allies across civil society and politics to promote justice, equality, peace and democracy at home and abroad.

We have been at the forefront of many campaigns including supporting the Belfast/ Good Friday Agreement, and continue to campaign for the full implementation of the 1998 deal, including a Bill of Rights for everyone living here.

We successfully campaigned in recent years for equal marriage, reproductive rights for all women and better and welcoming integration for migrant workers and refugees.