August Vanistendael

August Vanistendael (9 January 1917 – 8 September 2003) was a Belgian trade union leader and Catholic social activist.

Born in Birtley, Tyne and Wear, in England, Vanistendael grew up in Belgium, and began working as a clerk at BAC, the Christian labour movement bank. In 1938, he became the secretary of the Christian Union of Belgian Hospitality Workers, and then during the Nazi occupation he headed a union for workers in tourism.

After the war, Vanistendael began working for the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions (IFCTU). He became deputy general secretary in 1947, and then general secretary in 1952. Under his leadership, the federation began admitting unions in the global south, and unions in non-Christian religious traditions, leading it to become the World Confederation of Labour in 1968.