EU

The ETF and CER EU social partner report: Employability in the Rail Sector in Light of Digitalisation and Automation explores how to maintain employability in the face of the digital transition, with the human factor taking centre stage.

The European Commission has clearly indicated that it will propose more flexible rules for the bus & coach sector – despite an alarming shortage of drivers and levels of driver fatigue - not on ETF's watch!

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.

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.

This weekend, right-wing extremists and No-Vax attacked the headquarters of CGIL in Rome. The ETF strongly condemns these attacks and stands in solidarity with CGIL. For us, this is an attack on democracy and the entire trade union movement, and it shows the urgent need for the EU to take action and defend our European values with a plan to fight extreme right movements.

With only 300,000 truck parking spaces currently available in the EU, there is a significant shortfall of 100,000 spaces to meet total demand. Only 7,000, or less than 3%, of existing parking places in the EU are in certified safe and secure areas.

The European Commission must take Dutch trade union FNV’s recent win against Uber as a hint and make it clear in the upcoming EU law on platform work that platform workers are employees.

Following CJEU’s damaging ruling on how the Commission should handle EU social partner agreements, ETF, alongside EPSU and ETUC, calls on the European Commission to implement a clear and certain process to ensure that agreements can progress into the EU law as the EU treaties envisage.

Together with our aviation affiliates, we worked hard to ensure aviation workers' rights and conditions are safeguarded. AE CATA contains a labour clause to this end, and now we will closely monitor its implementation as well as its effectiveness.

Ahead of tomorrow’s Transport Council which will see discussions on the Smart Sustainable Mobility Strategy, the ETF implores transport ministers to lead the debate for change and show political will to set the basis and shift the paradigm of low-cost models, liberalisation and competition based on a race to the bottom that has dominated transport policies over the last decades.