Welcome to the new 2022 – 2027 Steering Committee of the ETF Urban Public Transport Committee.

Today, 21 February, the next set of measures under the Mobility Package enter into force – new rules on cabotage and the 'return of the vehicle/access to occupation' rule.

Welcome to the new Steering Committee of the ETF Dockers Section for the 2022 – 2027 period! The Chair and the Steering Committee were elected during the Dockers Section meeting, held on 14 February 2022.

Ten years after signing the European social partner’s agreement (SPA) on working time for inland waterways together with the European Social Partners – the European Barge Union (EBU) and the European Skippers’ Organisation (ESO) -the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) fully supports the European Commission’s recent urging all EU Member States (MS) to implement the Directive, regardless of the size of the inland water sector in their territory.

A Fair and Sustainable Shipping is our proposal for a future European Maritime Space. To start building together the foundation of such a future space, an essential aspect needs to be addressed from the very beginning: how can EU initiatives contribute to sustainable and quality shipping in Europe by promoting a race to the top instead of a race to the bottom?

Danish pension fund Akademiker Pension announced today that they had sold their shares in the London-listed low-cost carrier Wizz Air, after the company failed to convince them that it was taking meaningful actions to address ongoing concerns about how it treats its workers. Livia Spera, General Secretary of the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), commented: “These investors called Wizz Air out for their poor performance back in October 2021, yet it took almost three months for the company to meet them to discuss why Wizz Air does not recognise unions.”

ETF, ETUC, EFFAT, UNI Europa, IndustriAll Europe and ECA welcome the Toulouse Declaration on future sustainability and decarbonisation in aviation, which was adopted at the Aviation Summit, a flagship event organised during the French presidency of the Council of the EU.

The ETF welcomes the Declaration on future sustainability and decarbonisation in aviation, or the so-called Toulouse declaration adopted today during the Aviation Summit under the French presidency of the Council of the EU. The Aviation Summit, a flagship event for aviation of the French Presidency, gathered EU ministers, the European Commission, the ICAO president, the Directors General of Civil Aviation, members of the European Civil Aviation Conference, and stakeholders representing the air transport in Toulouse, France.

EU Social Partners – ETF, Europêche and Copa-Cogeca – adopted a joint resolution on the situation of fisheries in the Mediterranean. We call upon the European Commission to propose balanced measures to secure a future for fishermen, coastal communities and fishing resources in the Mediterranean Sea.

Through robust control and regulation, the Mobility Package's new rules on posting can directly address key issues in road transport; such as wage dumping and unfair competition.

Implementation of EU Mobility Package’s lags far behind – the ETF starts its campaign for enforcement as of today.

Part II – A Ukrainian story: Coincidence or deliberate action? The idea of having a trade union to represent the air transport workers within Wizz Air in Ukraine began to be shaped by some of the Wizz Air branch crew members in this country in the spring of 2020. Amongst them, Artem and Yuliia.