On 4 March 2026, the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) Rail Section, along with Vida (Austria) and AK Europa, gathered key stakeholders at the Permanent Representation of Austria to the EU for a high-level lunch discussion on "Improving Rail Safety". The event brought together a broad range of participants, including trade unionists, policy experts from the European Commission (DG MOVE), representatives of the European Parliament, and attachés. Our goal was to discuss a fundamental premise: rail safety is not a technical abstraction. It is directly linked to the working conditions of those who keep Europe moving.

The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) welcomes today’s European Commission proposals for an EU Port Strategy and an EU Industrial Maritime Strategy, insisting that workers must be placed at the heart of both initiatives. ETF stands ready to engage constructively with the European Commission, industry stakeholders and social partners to ensure that the final Strategy delivers a just, sustainable and socially responsible maritime future for Europe.

The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), Europêche and Copa-Cogeca warmly welcome the formal accession of Argentina to the 2012 Cape Town Agreement (CTA). This decisive step oGicially triggers the conditions for the global treaty to enter into force in February 2027, marking a historic milestone for global safety at sea.

The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), together with Europêche and Copa-Cogeca, has sent a formal letter to Ursula von der Leyen and the European Commission warning about the alarming and structural decline of the EU fishing fleet. The full letter can be downloaded here to learn more about the concerns raised and the concrete proposals put forward by the social partners.

Last week, the ETF’s civil aviation section held meetings in Malta to discuss the country’s growing strategic role in European aviation governance. Discussions in Valletta and Lija focused on the economic, safety and social dimensions of aviation oversight, as Malta has become an important hub for Air Operator Certificate (AOC) issuance.

The Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office has sent a clear message to the platform economy: the systematic exploitation of workers is a criminal matter. Following a recent investigation into Foodinho (Glovo), Italian authorities have now placed Deliveroo Italy under judicial supervision. This rare legal measure, typically reserved for cases involving "caporalato" (gangmaster-style labor exploitation), follows evidence that couriers were being paid wages up to 90% below the poverty line.

The parcel that arrives at your door has likely travelled through a labyrinth. A common practice for subcontracting in road transport is the following: A client places an order with a transport supplier. This could be a transport company that employs its own drivers, or a logistics company provided with a wider service than only road transport, or a freight forwarder who does not own assets and would always subcontract to others. The chain ends somewhere. In road transport, it ends with the driver. It is time to make sure justice reaches them.

Jerez de la Frontera/Brussels - The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) is raising serious concerns over working conditions and potential safety risks at liberalised airport control towers in Spain, following a recent meeting with air traffic controllers, represented by ETF-affiliated trade union, Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), at Jerez Airport.

A total of 45 European transport organisations are joining forces and collectively urge national governments to strengthen European funding for transport under the future EU budget and particularly to increase the budget of the future Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to at least €100 billion.

A CFP equipped with appropriate financial resources is not a cost, but a strategic investment in the resilience and competitiveness of Europe's food system and fisheries sector.

The European Transport Workers’ Federation is launching a new campaign to defend European rail freight and the tens of thousands of workers whose jobs depend on it. The campaign’s central argument is straightforward: rail freight is a public service, and it needs to be publicly owned and controlled.

Twenty years after the adoption of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, this landmark “fourth pillar” of international maritime regulations (along with SOLAS, MARPOL and STCW) has undeniably strengthened protection for some of the world’s most vulnerable and marginalised workers: seafarers.