The General Confederation of Workers was a union federation

National trade union center

A national trade union center is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a single country. Nearly every country in the world has a national trade union center, and many have more than one. When there is more than one national center, it is often because of ideological differences—in some...

 in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

.

The CGT was formed in March 1940 at a congress held in San Juan

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

. The congress was attended by delegates from 42 unions, and it had an initial membership of 72,000. The small Puerto Rican Communist Party

Puerto Rican Communist Party

The Puerto Rican Communist Party is a communist party in Puerto Rico.The PCP was formed in 1934 by dissident members of the Free Federation of Workers , the union arm of the Socialist Party. Its Secretary-General was Ramón Mirabal. Its membership always remained small, but it played a major role...

 played a leading role in its development. One offshoot of the General Confederation of Workers is the similarly named General Confederation of Farmers.

The CGT quickly surpassed the older Free Federation of Workers (FLT) as the largest union federation in Puerto Rico. It affiliated with the US Congress of Industrial Organizations

Congress of Industrial Organizations

The Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not...

 (CIO), and like the CIO it organized workers based on industrial unionism

Industrial unionism

Industrial unionism is a labor union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union—regardless of skill or trade—thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in bargaining and in strike situations...

. As the CGT grew closer politically to the Popular Democratic Party

Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico

The Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth....

 (PPD), the radical wing of the federation broke off and formed the General Confederation of Workers (Authentic).