The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers represents more than 75,000 men and women in professional, technical, administrative and associated occupations. On July 1, 1918, the AFL granted a charter to the American Federation of Technical Engineers, a group of 10 local unions that represented engineers and draftsmen at many of the United States shipyards. This union represented the first labor organization dedicated to the welfare of the American technical engineering employees. The organization evolved into the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers.