Vienna Airport has once again been named Europe’s Best Ground Handler at the 2026 Payload Asia Awards. This is the third time it has received the distinction, following previous awards in 2022 and 2025.

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, and extend their deepest condolences and solidarity to everyone affected by this tragic event. Reports state that at least 64 people are believed to have died, with dozens injured – numbers that may rise.

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.

On 22 and 23 October 2026 , the ETF brought together European Works Council (EWC) representatives from logistics companies for a workshop on strengthening EWCs in the ir sector. The discussions

The ETF Road Transport Section elected its new Chair, Elisa Gigliarelli (Filt-Cgil, Italy), during its annual section meeting in Warsaw last week. Elisa succeeds Stefan Thyroke (ver.di, Germany), who received a standing ovation in recognition of his outstanding commitment to strengthening the Road Section and expanding ETF's work beyond Brussels.

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.