"I declare the creation of the ITUC, encompassing 306 national unions in 154 countries and representing 168 million workers," the president of the International Labour Organisation, LeRoy Trotman, said.

The ILO organised the event and Trotman said that he was "conscious of the importance of this event for the future of the international trade union movement".

The creation of the new body was a show of union solidarity in the face of globalisation, the opening of markets, increased competition and disruption for many ordinary workers.

The world's two largest trade union movements, the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), had dissolved themselves on Tuesday and were to be regrouped under the new body.

The new ITUC will also incorporate a dozen national trade unions without any international affiliation, such as the French CGT or the Argentinian CTA.

But ITUC is being shunned by the Communist-affiliated World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) which, after the WCL and ICFTU, was the third-biggest trade union group in the world, with 145 member unions representing 42 million workers.

Organisers hope that consolidation will strengthen trade unions in countries where their existence is weak or under threat while promoting effective measures against practices by multinational companies which unions consider harmful to workers.

More than 300 trade unions from around the world were taking part in the three-day congress in Vienna to set up the new ITUC.