Road and rail unions out in force during ITF action week

Road and rail unions worldwide were out in force last week to draw attention to major issues affecting transport workers, as part of the 20th ITF action week.  

Activities included:  

• a road safety drive by FESYTRAT in Togo, Africa

• joint outreach by CCOO (Spain) and CGTP (Portugal) to truck drivers on the Spanish-Portuguese border

• a MTCPWU campaign to promote trade unions to self-employed and private transport workers in Mongolia

• VPMU activists in Ukraine protesting to the government over cuts in railway staff and wages

• protests by the NCTU and PISTON in Quezon City, the Philippines against proposals to change the way the popular public transport system of jeepneys is managed

• Unifor in Ontario, Canada, warned school bus drivers about how tendering was driving down wages

• promoting railway safety – to passengers (SRUT, Thailand) and workers (TURTCWU, Ukraine)

• highlighting the importance to strong unions of young people (NUR, Nigeria) and women (BRU, Bulgaria)  

The need for labour rights for informal workers was the focus on 5 October – in Nepal, NETWON focused on E-rickshaw drivers; women activists from SNTT in Colombia were out leafleting; the ATGWU in Uganda organised a march along the Kampala-Entebbe highway; and the ITF promoted its informal transport workers' charter.     

Aziz Kiirya, general secretary of the ATGWU in Uganda, said: “The action week gives transport workers the chance to come together and take a collective look at the big issues affecting them. It’s an opportunity to evaluate what they’ve gone through, to educate members on what’s happening and to drill down and really work out next steps for the year ahead.”  

ITF inland transport secretary Mac Urata said the 20th anniversary of the week was a cause for celebration and congratulated all the unions who had participated and made it more successful each year. He added that there was no better way to promote the importance of trade unions than by visibly engaging with workers and the public on the transport issues that affected them all.  

Find out more via #ActionWeek20, facebook/ITFinlandtransport and the dedicated Action Week blog.  

Learn more about how the ITF supports railway workers and road transport workers, and visit the ITF campaign page.