International Workers' Association

The International Workers' Association (IWA) (Spanish: AIT - Asociación Internacional de los Trabajadores, German: IAA-Internationale ArbeiterInnen Assoziation) is an international federation of anarcho-syndicalist labour unions and initiatives located primarily in Europe and Latin America.

Based on the principles of revolutionary unionism, the international aims to create industrial unions capable of fighting for the economic and political interests of the working class and eventually, to directly abolish capitalism through "the establishment of economic communities and administrative organs run by the workers."

At its peak the International represented millions of people worldwide, forming the largest anarchist organization in history and providing support for member unions which played a central role in the social conflicts of the 1920s and 30s, particularly in Spain. However the International was formed as many countries were entering periods of extreme repression, and many of the largest IWA unions were shattered during that period.

As a result, by the end of World War II all but one of the International's branches, the Central Organisation of the Workers of Sweden (SAC) had ceased to function as unions, a slump which continued throughout the 1940s and 50s. In 1958, the SAC left the organization, leaving it with no functioning unions and it would not be until the late 1970s, with the death of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, that it would see a major union, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) reform within its ranks.

Today the CNT remains the International's largest branch. The IWA's total membership worldwide is uncertain.