In June 2015 a meeting was called upon in Barcelona, Spain, in order to consider the creation of a global network of labour history researchers.
In december 2014 the following letter was sent out by Prof. Dr. Marcel van der Linden of the IISH-International Institute of Social History of Amsterdam to 26 researchers from all over the world: "Dear colleagues, in recent years many new labour history asociations and related initiatives have been founded: in India, Brazil, France, Italy, Senegal, etc. And there has been of course, the founding of our own European Labour History Network! It is time to connect these initiatives. Therefore, we would like to invite you to send one or more representatives of your organization, group or journal to a meeting we are organizing in Barcelona, Spain, on June 16, 2015, 10.00-15.00 hrs. This meeting is also endorsed by the president of the International Association for the Study of Strikes and Social Conflicts (IASSC), Raquel Varela. At this meeting, we would like to explore the possibility to establish a global network of labour historians, including associations, journals, study groups, and so on. [...] We hope to be able to give you more information during the coming months. Please, let us know as soon as possible if you are interested."
At the meeting it was decided to create the GLHN-Global Labour History Network and to prepare its first conference.