In an interconnected world, transport is more vital than ever. Everyone uses transport for travel and trade, and millions of Europeans work in the sector. But many people do not know the struggles that transport workers can face in their daily lives: excessive and anti-social working hours, violence and dangerous conditions, exploitation and hyperflexible contracts.
Sadly, it’s the same story all over Europe. Employers play with the divisions between people from different countries or professional groups, pushing down salaries and conditions. That’s social dumping, and it’s the ultimate cause of most challenges facing transport workers today.
Workers have to react, and the only answer is solidarity. Workers and their unions must stand together, across borders and professions, to defend a positive vision of transport work in Europe. This is why the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) is running the Fair Transport campaign against social dumping.
Europe’s transport workers and their unions are taking action with demos, events and protests. We are demanding that politicians and employers put an end to exploitation and unfair competition. The EU elections are just around the corner, so now is the moment. We will make policymakers recognise the abuses in the transport sector and commit to our manifesto of meaningful solutions.
If we work together we can achieve a lot: more than 100 actions in at least 18 countries! Now we will come together once again for a huge final week on 22-27 March. Trade unions from the Arctic Circle to the Mediterranean Sea will stage coordinated actions, many of them in partnership with neighbouring countries. Then thousands of workers will travel to Brussels for an enormous demo on 27 March. We will march through the city and raise our voice with one common demand: Fair Transport for Europe!
“We are determined to send a clear message to the world. We want a real improvement in working and living conditions for millions of transport workers,” says Frank Moreels, ETF president. “Our Fair Transport campaign shows that workers and their unions can mobilise across their diversity of nation, age, gender and sector. Now let’s deliver an impressive action week that shows the strength and unity of our movement. That’s how we’ll win the battle against social dumping and exploitation!”
Speak to your union and join our campaign!
