Skip to main content
ETF black logo ETF black logo ETF black logo ETF black logo

Google Translate

European social partners in rail decide to enter into negotiations

News

On 15th November 2018, the railway social partners, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) and the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), gathered for the annual plenary meeting of the Rail Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee. The main topic on the agenda were women in transport and the 5th Annual Report on Women in Rail and the results of joint work on this topic were presented.

After hard negotiations, it was decided that the collaboration between rail social partners will be deepened by entering into negotiations of an Autonomous Agreement to promote women in the rail sector. The Women in Rail (WIR) Task Force has been given the mandate to prepare the negotiations that should start in the second half of 2019. Apart from that, the attendees had the opportunity to exchange views with DG MOVE Deputy Director-General for Investment, Innovative & Sustainable Transport, Ms. Maja Bakran, with DG MOVE Head of Unit Rail Interoperability and Safety, Mr. Keir Fitch, and with Ms. Anna Gigantino, European Railway Agency Head of Analysis and Monitoring Unit. The SSDC President Giorgio Tuti and the Vice-President Matthias Rohrmann handed the Platform for Change Declaration signed by CER and ETF members to Ms. Bakran.

ON THE GROUND

News

Keeping a warming Europe moving: how hot temperatures affect transport workers and what can be done about it

As part of the European continent undergoes its fourth heatwave of 2026, it has become abundantly clear that occupational heat exposure is no longer an exceptional or occasional summer hazard. It is an emergent occupational hazard only destined to escalate. Europe is the second fastest-warming region of the globe after the Arctic. According to EU-OSHA 2025 numbers, one in five workers in the EU signaled exposure to extreme heat at work in the previous 12 months, a figure rising to one in three in some countries.
News

Unruly passengers: more than just summer headlines

Summer may be synonymous with relaxation for holidaymakers and every summer seems to produce its share of eye-catching headlines. Just days ago, The Guardian reported on a drunk British holidaymaker who tried to kiss a flight attendant on a plane and was arrested on his way back through Palma airport. A week earlier, headlines were dominated by reports of a flight from Dublin to Ibiza descending into what was described as "sex and booze chaos," leaving fellow passengers shocked.
News

UK public transport unions sound the alarm over lack of toilet access for drivers

Public transport unions in the United Kingdom are raising urgent concerns about the lack of access to toilet facilities for bus and train drivers, a problem that has persisted for years but is now reaching a breaking point. Reports from across the UK show drivers being forced to work entire shifts without guaranteed access to a toilet, leaving them to rely on improvised or unsafe alternatives, including urinating in bottles in their driving cab. Some unions are now considering industrial action to force employers and authorities to act.