Civil aviation unions plan fight against damaging impact of FOCs

Forty-one of the ITF’s civil aviation affiliates from 22 countries agreed on 26 July to develop a global union strategy with strong national and regional pillars to fight against the damaging impact of the growing use of flags of convenience (FOCs) in the aviation industry. The previous day, they had participated in an industry-wide conference […]


July 2, 2015

Danish court allows industrial action against Ryanair

On 1 July 2015, the Danish Labour Court ruled that Ryanair has to engage in collective bargaining with trade unions within five days and that the Flight Personnel Union (FPU), affiliated to the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), can legally enter into an industrial conflict with Ryanair. This means […]


Ryanair Clashes With Denmark Over Labor Laws (bloomberg.com)

Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O’Leary loves a good fight, and he’s won far more than he’s lost, building the Irish carrier into Europe’s biggest discount airline over the past 20 years. But tiny Denmark could be O’Leary’s toughest adversary yet. Since introducing service to Copenhagen this spring, Ryanair has come under nonstop attack from unions, […]


June 23, 2015

Glass ceiling in the sky: Qatar Airways’ problem with pregnant cabin crew (Theguardian.com)

They’re firefighters, lifesavers and great hosts – but woe betide the Qatar Airways flight attendant who gets pregnant. As the airline comes under fire, Gwyn Topham reports on a profession that still has a foot in the 1950s Round the back of one Gulf airline’s corporate HQ, a door opens into a hall dominated by […]


June 20, 2015

Prosecute Qatar Airways over pregnancy sackings, TWU demands (TWU.com.au)

The Transport Workers’ Union is demanding that the Government prosecute Qatar Airways for discriminating against women workers, including allowing for them to be sacked if they become pregnant. The airline should be banned from entering Australia unless it abides by anti-discrimination laws, the union added. The call comes after the International Labour Organisation found the […]


June 19, 2015

ILO finds Qatar guilty

Geneva-based United Nations agency the ILO (International Labour Organization) today found Qatar guilty of allowing its state-owned airline, Qatar Airways, to violate international and national agreements and institutionalise discrimination. The case was successfully brought against Qatar by the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) and the ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) (see http://goo.gl/Ka5inH.) In a dramatic […]


June 16, 2015

Qatar Airways Cup: global union spotlights aviation workers’ plight

The International Transport Workers’ Federation – a global union body representing millions of transport workers worldwide – is joining the Scottish Football Supporters Association and PlayFairQatar in calling on Scotland fans to support migrant workers who are building Qatar’s 2022 World Cup in advance of Scotland’s friendly with the Gulf state on June 5th. The […]


June 4, 2015

Secret trade pact gives ‘consolidated power’ to global transport firms warns ITF

The ITF warned that classified documents published today by Wikileaks on the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) foresee consolidated power for big transport industry players and threaten the public interest, jobs and a voice for workers. See the classified documents. It is alarmed that the deregulation envisaged in the text is about ideology not efficiency, […]


June 3, 2015