Today on every road, every rail line, every port, every runway on the planet – transport workers are keeping the world moving. We are the global economy.
Truck drivers in Mali. Dockers in Rotterdam. Aviation workers across the Middle East. Seafarers in the Persian Gulf. This May Day belongs to all of them, all of us.
Right now, our members are dying in wars they didn't start, losing jobs to automation they had no say in, and working in conditions that political elites and corporate boards would never accept for themselves.
That is the world as it is. And that is what we are here to change.
ITF President Paddy Crumlin put it plainly: “We are trade unionists. And we are going to continue to commit with all of our resources to building a world that is a safe sanctuary of justice, equality and peace for all working people.”
And this year, that commitment has never been more urgent.
Across the world today, workers are caught in the crossfire of conflicts they did not start – wars fought to protect the interests of the powerful, not the working class.
“Peace is the foundation on which workers' rights are built,” said Crumlin. “The same forces driving war and conflict are driving the race to the bottom in our industry – the pursuit of profit and power at the expense of working people. Corporate greed and political recklessness are two sides of the same coin. The labour movement's answer to both is the same: organise, resist and demand better.”
We demand peace wherever war rages. We stand in solidarity with every union comrade imprisoned, threatened or in exile for defending workers' rights.
The ITF stands with every worker, in every conflict zone, on every picket line.
Let us be clear about who we are up against.
The global transport sector is controlled by corporations that have never been richer – and never been more brazen in their contempt for the workers who make their profits possible.
“These corporations didn't build the global supply chains that keep the world moving,” said Stephen Cotton, ITF General Secretary. “We did. Transport workers did.”
“Supply chain accountability is not optional. Corporations at the top of supply chains must be held responsible for abuses at every link. The race to the bottom on labour rights ends – with our organising, our campaigns, and our solidarity.”
At Congress, we set out our demands, and on days like this we carry them into the streets.
- Accountability: if you profit from transport workers, you answer for how they are treated.
- Equality: transport cannot remain the most unequal industry on earth.
- Future of Work: technology must serve workers, not be used to discard them.
- Rights: the right to organise, bargain and strike. Non-negotiable.
- Safety: every transport worker has the right to come home alive.
- Sustainability: a just transition built with workers, not imposed on them.
“None of this happens without solidarity,” said Cotton. “That is the lesson of every struggle this movement has ever fought and won.”
We are over 16 million transport workers across every sector, every region, every corner of this globe.
“May Day, workers’ day all over the world. Let’s build our power together for the many and not the few,” said Crumlin.
