On 25 June 2010, at the conclusion of the congress, Sharan Burrow (then ITUC President) was elected General Secretary, succeeding Guy Ryder (who had been elected as Deputy Director General of the International Labour Organisation).
The South Asian Regional Trade Union Council was formed in January 1988 by some of the affiliates of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (now the ITUC) in countries belonging to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)—Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
It was formed in March 2008 to succeed the ICFTU Inter American Regional Organisation of Workers (CIOSL/ORIT), after ICFTU merged to ITUC.