News June 6, 2025
Aviation workers are concerned about the Council of Transport Ministers agreement on the air passenger rights reform decided by yesterday’s Transport Council. The agreed attacks on passenger rights, such as increasing the threshold for compensation from 3 to 4 hour delays, can have serious consequences for airlines and airports frontline workers, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) warns.
Statement June 6, 2025
The ETF welcomes the stronger emphasis placed by the European Commission on sustainable transport in the 2025 Country-Specific Recommendations of the European Semester. We are encouraged to see 15 Member States explicitly urged to invest in public rail and urban transport — including commitments to upgrade infrastructure and electrify fleets. These are long-overdue steps towards a more sustainable and inclusive transport system.
News June 4, 2025
The Commission has initiated a fitness check of key airport regulations. If you agree that there are better ways to organise ground handling, to ensure the operational stability and social resilience, please engage and help us make sure that the voice of frontline workers and trade unions is heard. We show you how to take part in the survey sent out by DG Move.
News June 3, 2025
It’s vital for unions to build the skills needed to tackle the challenges of new technologies — and for workers to be supported as they acquire new skills for the digital transition. The ETF is actively working on this, ensuring that innovation and workers’ rights move forward together. To support trade unions in this effort, we are happy to share this AI bargaining toolkit for ports.
News June 3, 2025
As Pride Month begins, the ETF reaffirms its strong commitment to equality, dignity, and respect for LGBTQI+ workers in the European transport sector. Despite legal progress in many countries, LGBTQI+ people – particularly trans and intersex individuals – still face daily harassment, hate crimes and discrimination. Much of this happens in public spaces and at the workplace: spaces where everyone should feel safe.
Vacancies May 28, 2025
Job description and person specification for the Policy Officer for Logistics and E-Commerce role advertised on 28 May 2025.
Vacancies May 28, 2025
Job description and person specification for the Policy Officer for UPT and Mobility role advertised on 28 May 2025.
Statement May 28, 2025
The European Transport Workers’ Federation strongly welcomes the UK government’s decision to bring South Western Railway back into public ownership – the first step in reversing the country’s decades-long experiment with rail privatisation. This marks a significant political shift and a renewed recognition that public transport must serve people, not profit.
News
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
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 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
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.
