News June 23, 2025 Recognising the Transformative Impact of Public Transport on UN Public Service Day Public transport plays a pivotal role in making societies function, promoting social cohesion and enhancing everyone’s quality of life. It is the most sustainable form of transport, easily accessible to all. It helps reduce noise and air pollution and is the most effective way to cut greenhouse gas emissions from mobility.
Statement June 23, 2025 Railways: ETF Statement on Breakdown of Social Dialogue on Worktime monitoring ETF regrets and denounces the obstructive behaviour of railway employers in the ongoing discussions on time monitoring within the Sectoral Social Dialogue. Particularly the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies’ last-minute intervention to block the participation of the European Union Agency for Railways in the Sectoral Social Dialogue meeting on 23 June 2025, constitutes a serious breach of the mutual trust and respect required for meaningful social dialogue.
News June 23, 2025 Sweden’s Rail Liberalisation: A Failed Experiment and a Wake-Up Call for Europe On UN Public Service Day, ETF honours the vital role of public services in shaping fairer, greener societies. Few are as essential – or as misunderstood – as rail. It’s not just transport: it’s a public good, a climate solution, and a pillar of social justice. For years, the EU praised Sweden’s liberalised rail model. But a new report by Swedish think tank Katalys confirms what unions have long warned: liberalisation has failed. The promise of efficiency gave way to fragmentation and decline. It’s time to rethink rail—not as a market, but as a service for people and planet.
News June 20, 2025 Young Aviation Workers Demand Change! From the outside, aviation may still seem like a glamorous industry. But for many young workers – aircrew, ground staff, and air traffic management (ATM) personnel – the daily reality is a grind of fatigue, insecurity, and unsustainable schedules. In two recent workshops hosted by ETF, young aviation workers shared their lived experiences around the topics of work-life balance and mental health.
Press Release June 19, 2025 Every day is the longest day for drivers: ETF and ITF mark Drivers’ Fatigue Action Day on 21 June To mark the longest day of the year, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), with the support of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), is once again shining a light on a crisis that doesn’t end with daylight: 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 safe rates for all drivers.
News June 18, 2025 Pride Month: “Equality Is Not Declared: it must be Built” – An Interview with Béatrice Lestic French union leader Béatrice Lestic calls for zero tolerance against workplace discrimination, arguing that true equality requires unions to actively create inclusive environments where LGBTQIA+ workers can be themselves without fear. Her message comes ahead of ETF’s “We are all equally different” conference in Paris on June 26-27, with registrations still open.
News June 13, 2025 Catalonia Fines Amazon for Algorithm Secrecy in Workplace Monitoring The recent decision by Catalonia’s Labour Inspectorate to fine Amazon for failing to disclose the algorithms used to manage its workforce is a landmark moment in the fight against algorithmic exploitation in the logistics and e-commerce sector. This is not an isolated case. Across Europe, AI technologies have become a central feature of warehousing and last-mile delivery, often at the expense of workers’ rights, dignity, and well-being.
News June 12, 2025 Belgium and Ivory Coast ratify ILO “Work in fishing” Convention A key step toward better working conditions for fishers and stronger international labour standards.
News ETF Conference on Diversity and Inclusivity – Paris, June 2025 The rise of far-right ideologies has worsened institutionalised discrimination, creating toxic anti-LGBTQI+ narratives and policies that threaten the lives of marginalized groups. ETF is committed to combating these divisive, populist narratives and ensuring that trade unions play a pivotal role in supporting equality and inclusivity, especially for those who face harassment in the workplace based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and other aspects of identity.
Publication EU Land Transport Labour Market: A Critical Examination of Trends and Policy Implications Two years ago, the ETF launched a project to look in more detail at the roots of the above trends. Three reports – on road, rail and urban public transport were developed within the frame of the project to cast light on how liberalisation and market-opening policies led to undesirable effects that put at stake the very goals and objectives set by the same policymakers.
Statement The big EU deregulation: ETF Joins over 360 organisations in a Joint Statement on the Omnibus Package The publication by the European Commission of its Omnibus proposal revising key corporate sustainability laws sends a clear political signal: President Ursula von der Leyen is deprioritising human rights, workers’ rights and environmental protections for the sake of dangerous deregulation. ETF joined over 360 organisations in a joint statement calling out on the consequences of this package.
News Giorgio Tuti Elected New ETF President Belgian trade union leader Frank Moreels stepped down from his function of ETF President, in view of his upcoming role as President of the ITF. A Swiss national, Giorgio Tuti has been a high-profile unionist in the trade union movement since 1988. He served as President of the Swiss Transport Workers’ Union (SEV) for 14 years, from 2009 to 2023 and has been Vice-Chair of the Swiss Trade Union Confederation since 2009. Tuti has been chairing the ETF Railways Section since 2017.