The ETF has expressed concern over the absence of social and employment considerations in a new European initiative aimed at accelerating the deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs). On 8 June, 18 EU Member States and the European Commission signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on large-scale cross-border testbeds for autonomous vehicles.

The recent announcement of collective layoffs at UPS has sparked widespread outrage. The logistics company plans on eliminating over half of the Belgian workforce to increasingly rely on subcontracted labour. For trade unions, this restructuring goes far beyond standard reorganisation. It is part of a deliberate strategy of social dumping.

The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) welcomes the recognition that Military Mobility is a workers’ issue, but warns that the failure to protect the right to strike and the introduction of disproportionate derogations pose serious risks for workers and for the credibility of the EU’s approach.

This is the 2nd survey on “Violence and harassment against women transport workers” conducted by the ETF and the results are a clear call to action. The findings confirm what has already been reported by individual women transport workers and trade union members: violence and harassment have increased after the Covid-19 pandemic

To mark the longest day of the year, 21 June, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) is shining a light on a crisis that never ends: 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 better working conditions for all professional drivers.

EASA has published its latest report examining the relationship between civil aviation safety and socio-economic factors, as required under Article 89 of the EASA Basic Regulation, identifying fatigue and communication issues as key safety concerns.

The ITF and the ITF Seafarers’ Trust are in Odesa, seeing the conditions faced by the workers keeping Ukraine and the world moving forward. It is now more than four years since the deadliest war seen in Europe since World War II began – and through that time, in the face of lethal attacks, unending fear, trauma and risks to their lives, Ukraine’s maritime workers have held firm, keeping trade moving.

The third regional workshop of the TU4BPT project took place on 2 and 3 June, gathering trade union representatives from the public transport sector to deepen their understanding of, and readiness for, the twin transitions currently transforming the industry: the green transition and the digital transition.

The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) welcomes the Council’s adoption of conclusions on the EU Maritime Industrial Strategy and the EU Port Strategy, recognising their importance for strengthening Europe’s competitiveness, resilience, technological leadership and strategic autonomy.

ETF has written to EU Ministers and Ambassadors, urging them to address critical gaps in worker protection in the European Commission's proposed Regulation on Military Transport, currently under discussion in the Council of the European Union. ETF warns that the Commission's proposal rests on a flawed assumption: that Europe's transport systems can absorb additional pressure during crises without investment in the workforce that runs them.

On 4–5 June 2026, the ETF held the first workshop in the series of its EU co-funded project Empowering Transport Workers in Central and Eastern Europe (UNIONDRIVE) in Bucharest, Romania. Bringing together transport unions from aviation, road transport and urban public transport, the workshop focused on the implementation of Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages and its implications for collective bargaining in the transport sector.

The recent recognition by the European Union of Serbia's inland navigation crew certificates marks an important milestone for workers in the inland waterways sector and for the integration of the Western Balkans into the European transport area. Following a European Commission decision, certificates of qualification, service records and logbooks issued by Serbia will now be recognised across EU inland waterways, removing long-standing barriers to labour mobility.