17 industry organisations published joint paper today to welcome the upcoming maritime and port strategies and emphasize the workers’ perspective. Key initiatives recently proposed include regulatory simplification, lowering market entry barriers to enhance competition, facilitating access to finance to bolster competitiveness, the attention to industrial clusters, promoting labour upskilling and quality employment, and improving policy coordination at both the EU and national levels.

The turkish ETF affiliate TÜMTİS secured a landmark collective bargaining agreement at DHL Express Turkey, overcoming employer resistance and setting a powerful precedent for union rights. In this interview, TÜMTİS President Kenan Ozturk shares insights on the fight for fair wages, the battle against union-busting tactics, and the union’s vision for organising in the logistics sector.

The ETF made its points clearly to the discussion during the recent Connecting Ports Session edition “Port Work in Transition – Balancing progress and change in sustainability, automation, and digitalization,” held on the 20th of March 2025 and hosted by HPC Hamburg Port Consulting. With around 100 participants from over 30 countries, the event served as a global platform to explore the evolving landscape of port work in the face of sustainability, automation, and digitalization.

As the European Council and the Parliament prepare to discuss the future Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), leading EU associations urge EU policymakers to maintain and strengthen the current fund for fisheries and aquaculture, emphasizing its critical role in food security, economic stability and environmental sustainability.

A positive step towards ensuring that the voices of fisheries workers are heard in shaping the future of the sector.

The ETF, in collaboration with the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), organised a training session titled “Training on Corporate Sustainability and Due Diligence” in Brussels. The event brought together trade unionists from across Europe to discuss the growing importance of corporate accountability, sustainability, and due diligence in the transport sector and beyond.

On 17 March, railway workers from CGSP Cheminots and ACV CSC Transcom will take strike action to defend their pensions and demand dignity in retirement. ETF stands firmly in solidarity with Belgian rail workers as they fight against unjust pension reforms that threaten their futures and the future of generations to come.

The European Commission plans to submit a text on crew labour standards to the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) which will be discussed in the next days at the IOTC meeting for 13-17 April. The European Social Partners for Sea Fisheries jointly call on the European Commission to withdraw this proposal from submission to the IOTC.