The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) express their profound shock at today’s serious rail accident in Toledo, Spain.

Seafarers' working and living conditions are not only a matter of welfare; they are also fundamental to maritime safety and increasingly relevant to how maritime risk is assessed.

Last week , the ETF brought together European Works Council (EWC) representatives from logistics companies for a workshop on strengthening EWCs in the ir sector. The discussions focused on the

The European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) has submitted its response to the European Commission's call for evidence on a future EU directive on training and certification standards for fishers. The ETF strongly supports the full transposition of the revised International Maritime Organization (IMO) STCW-F Convention into EU law and calls for ambitious legislation that covers all fishers working on EU fishing vessels.

On 22–23 October 2026, the ETF held a regional workshop in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as part of the EU co-funded project Empowering Transport Workers in Central and Eastern Europe (UNIONDRIVE). Around 35 trade union representatives from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia took part in the two-day programme, which combined exchanges on the situation in the aviation sector with practical training on trade union mobilisation, collective bargaining and European labour legislation.

On 22-23 October, the European social partners for sea fisheries met in The Hague to continue their joint work under the EU-funded Pillars of the Sea 4 project. Bringing together representatives of workers and employers, the meeting marked another important step in the common effort to strengthen the social sustainability of the fishing sector across Europe.

The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), the European Barge Union (EBU) and the European Skippers Organisation (ESO) signed a new joint declaration on preventing and eliminating violence and harassment in inland waterway transport on 21 October 2026 in Brussels at the meeting of the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee.

Despite strong calls from EU co-legislators and the sector, the Commission has failed to deliver a targeted revision of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). A future for fisheries and aquaculture requires reforms, not yet another clever strategy.

ETF and Europêche have raised serious concerns over the ongoing free trade agreement negotiations between the European Union and Thailand. In a joint letter addressed to Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, the European fisheries social partners highlighted the severe risks to social and labor standards, particularly concerning proposed concessions for tuna products.

Summer 2026 saw Europe battered by a series of unprecedented heat waves, with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees multiple times across many cities. Trade unions across Europe raised the alarm over working during extreme heat, especially in at-risk sectors like transport.

The four organisations urge the European Commission to include concrete legislative action in its Vision for Fisheries and Aquaculture 2040 and its 2027 Work Programme

As negotiations continue in the European Parliament on EU Inc., the proposed new European company regime, the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) is heavily concerned that this proposal could come at the expense of workers' rights and social dialogue. The initiative aims to make it easier for companies to operate across borders, but this must not weaken the social protections that are fundamental to the European model.