News June 20, 2025 Young Aviation Workers Demand Change! From the outside, aviation may still seem like a glamorous industry. But for many young workers – aircrew, ground staff, and air traffic management (ATM) personnel – the daily reality is a grind of fatigue, insecurity, and unsustainable schedules. In two recent workshops hosted by ETF, young aviation workers shared their lived experiences around the topics of work-life balance and mental health.
Press Release June 19, 2025 Every day is the longest day for drivers: ETF and ITF mark Drivers’ Fatigue Action Day on 21 June To mark the longest day of the year, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), with the support of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), is once again shining a light on a crisis that doesn’t end with daylight: driver fatigue. On 21 June, ETF and its affiliates will organise coordinated actions across Europe to raise awareness of fatigue in road freight and passenger transport, and to call for safe rates for all drivers.
News June 18, 2025 Pride Month: “Equality Is Not Declared: it must be Built” – An Interview with Béatrice Lestic French union leader Béatrice Lestic calls for zero tolerance against workplace discrimination, arguing that true equality requires unions to actively create inclusive environments where LGBTQIA+ workers can be themselves without fear. Her message comes ahead of ETF’s “We are all equally different” conference in Paris on June 26-27, with registrations still open.
News June 13, 2025 Catalonia Fines Amazon for Algorithm Secrecy in Workplace Monitoring The recent decision by Catalonia’s Labour Inspectorate to fine Amazon for failing to disclose the algorithms used to manage its workforce is a landmark moment in the fight against algorithmic exploitation in the logistics and e-commerce sector. This is not an isolated case. Across Europe, AI technologies have become a central feature of warehousing and last-mile delivery, often at the expense of workers’ rights, dignity, and well-being.
News June 12, 2025 Belgium and Ivory Coast ratify ILO “Work in fishing” Convention A key step toward better working conditions for fishers and stronger international labour standards. The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) welcomes the ratification of the ILO Convention No. 188 on “Work in Fishing” by Belgium and Côte d’Ivoire. Each new ratification strengthens the Convention’s role as a global benchmark for ensuring decent working conditions in the fishing sector.
News June 6, 2025 ETF warns: Lowering air passenger rights will put frontline workers at risk Aviation workers are concerned about the Council of Transport Ministers agreement on the air passenger rights reform decided by yesterday’s Transport Council. The agreed attacks on passenger rights, such as increasing the threshold for compensation from 3 to 4 hour delays, can have serious consequences for airlines and airports frontline workers, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) warns.
Statement June 6, 2025 Statement on the EU Semester Spring Package The ETF welcomes the stronger emphasis placed by the European Commission on sustainable transport in the 2025 Country-Specific Recommendations of the European Semester. We are encouraged to see 15 Member States explicitly urged to invest in public rail and urban transport — including commitments to upgrade infrastructure and electrify fleets. These are long-overdue steps towards a more sustainable and inclusive transport system.
News June 4, 2025 Airport legislation up for review The Commission has initiated a fitness check of key airport regulations. If you agree that there are better ways to organise ground handling, to ensure the operational stability and social resilience, please engage and help us make sure that the voice of frontline workers and trade unions is heard. We show you how to take part in the survey sent out by DG Move.
News June 3, 2025 Artificial intelligence in ports: a challenge for jobs and workers’ rights (ENG/IT) It’s vital for unions to build the skills needed to tackle the challenges of new technologies — and for workers to be supported as they acquire new skills for the digital transition. The ETF is actively working on this, ensuring that innovation and workers’ rights move forward together. To support trade unions in this effort, we are happy to share this AI bargaining toolkit for ports.
News June 3, 2025 ETF Marks Pride Month: Fighting for LGBTQI+ Equality in Transport Workplaces As Pride Month begins, the ETF reaffirms its strong commitment to equality, dignity, and respect for LGBTQI+ workers in the European transport sector. Despite legal progress in many countries, LGBTQI+ people – particularly trans and intersex individuals – still face daily harassment, hate crimes and discrimination. Much of this happens in public spaces and at the workplace: spaces where everyone should feel safe.
Statement May 28, 2025 ETF welcomes UK rail renationalisation: time to end the privatisation experiment across Europe The European Transport Workers’ Federation strongly welcomes the UK government’s decision to bring South Western Railway back into public ownership – the first step in reversing the country’s decades-long experiment with rail privatisation. This marks a significant political shift and a renewed recognition that public transport must serve people, not profit.
News May 28, 2025 ETF Dockers Statement on the missile strike at HHLA Container Terminal in Odessa The ETF Dockers Section is devastated by the news of the brutal missile strike on the HHLA Container Terminal in Odessa — an attack that has claimed the life of one worker and left eight others injured.