Seafarers, air transport workers must be prioritised for vaccine

Today the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) reiterates our strong request for seafarers and aviation workers to be prioritised by governments in their Covid-19 vaccination programmes. The ITF welcomes the joint statement from UN bodies last week supporting this position. Covid-19 and its impacts have been felt by none more acutely than transport workers and […]


March 29, 2021

ITF calls on governments for the swift adoption of new ICAO guidance

With passenger demand continuing its free-fall and prospects for an industry turnaround being hampered by government travel restrictions brought on by new COVID-19 variants, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is calling on governments to adopt updated guidance issued today by the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART). “There is a clear and urgent need […]


March 15, 2021

Pandemic support for Australian aviation has been woeful and is about to get worse

The Australian Government needs to act now to save the aviation industry and protect the country’s post-pandemic economy. Australia’s economy is absolutely reliant on aviation but the Morrison Government is yet to consider continuing support past March. The nation’s JobKeeper scheme runs out at the end of the month and there seem to be no […]


March 5, 2021

Australian Labour Party Senator speaks against attacks on jobs and conditions across the Australian aviation industry

Qantas and Virgin Australia, Australia’s two major airlines recently announced that they were planning to implement dramatic job cuts. Both airlines are intending to restructure operations to slash costs amid continuing turmoil in the global aviation industry. From the outset, the ITF affiliated unions’ response to the ongoing crisis has been to develop socially responsible […]


August 27, 2020

NUATE seeks modalities for applying intervention fund (thenationonlineng.net)

By Kelvin Osa-Okunbor The General Secretary, National Union of Aviation Employees (NUATE), Comrade Aba Ocheme, has canvassed modalities for the application of N500 billion announced by Federal Government for businesses impacted by COVID -19 pandemic. He said though the aviation sector was yet to get any tranche of the promised funds to assist airlines, ground […]


August 18, 2020

Airline labor unions, with Republican backing, are poised for historic win of billions in additional payroll aid (forbes.com)

By Ted Reed Assuming that Congress can come to terms on another major economic stimulus bill, the airline industry, led by its labor unions, has apparently garnered sufficient backing to extend payroll support until March 31, 2021. That became evident Wednesday, when 16 Republican senators said in a letter that they backed providing $25 billion […]


August 8, 2020

Governments, employers and unions must act together to save aviation (internationalairportreview.com)

Gabriel Mocho Rodriguez, International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)’s Civil Aviation Secretary, emphasises how the world needs governments and employers to step up to the challenge of protecting jobs, livelihoods and international transport. In the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic, the aviation sector is fighting for its survival. Flight capacity has already fallen by over […]


June 2, 2020

ILO, IMO and ICAO urge governments to act on crew change, ‘key worker’ status

The leaders of the world’s highest maritime, aviation and labour authorities have issued a joint statement calling on governments to facilitate maritime crew changes and designate the millions of workers in critical transport industries through the present pandemic as ‘key workers’. Fang Liu (International Civil Aviation Organization), Kitack Lim (International Maritime Organization) and Guy Ryder […]


May 28, 2020