About ITF

About the ITF: An Overview

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is the global federation of trade unions representing transport workers. It brings together member organizations from across the transport industry, and any independent trade union engaged in trade union activities may apply for ITF membership. Today, the ITF represents 17 million transport workers through 760 affiliated trade unions in 150 countries. Click here to view the full list of ITF-affiliated unions.

The ITF is one of the ten Global Union Federations affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and forms part of the Global Unions network. It represents transport workers worldwide and advances their interests through global campaigns.

The ITF is headquartered in London and also maintains regional offices in Nairobi, Ouagadougou, Tokyo, New Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, Amman, Moscow, and Brussels.

How Was the ITF Founded and How Has It Evolved?

In April 1896, dockworkers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, went on strike after the port’s largest employer announced plans to cut wages by 25 percent. British seafarers supported the strike by refusing to load or unload ships until it had been fully resolved. This act of solidarity revealed the potential for an international trade union organization bringing together maritime and dock workers.

Trade union leaders from British maritime and dockworkers’ unions called on all seafarers to support the strike. The strike ended in victory, and the relationships forged during the dispute led to the creation of the International Federation of Ship, Dock and River Workers, which would later develop into the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF). As transport industries expanded, railway unions joined the ITF, followed by road transport and, with technological advances, civil aviation unions.

As the ITF continued to grow, it moved its headquarters from London to Germany in 1904. Before the outbreak of the First World War, its membership had reached one million workers. The war created divisions among trade unions, but unity was restored at a post-war conference in Amsterdam. Between 1919 and 1939, the organization experienced significant growth in both membership and influence.

Under the leadership of Edo Fimmen, who became the ITF’s first full-time General Secretary in 1924, the organization expanded beyond its European origins and became the world’s first truly international transport trade union federation. By the outbreak of the Second World War, the ITF included 30 affiliated unions from 18 countries outside Europe, including railway unions from India, tramway workers’ unions from Indonesia, and seafarers’ unions from Japan and China. The ITF also opened its Tokyo office in 1931.

Throughout the 1930s, the ITF played an important role in the struggle against Fascism and Nazism. Through its offices in Belgium and the Netherlands, it maintained contact with underground transport workers’ organizations. During the 1920s and 1930s, the ITF also established strong relationships with trade unions in Africa and Asia and supported anti-colonial movements.

In 1939, following the outbreak of the Second World War, the ITF decided to relocate its headquarters from Amsterdam back to London. Unlike many other trade union organizations, it continued its activities throughout the war. After the war, it played a central role in rebuilding an independent and democratic international trade union movement.

In 1948, the ITF officially launched its Flag of Convenience (FOC) Campaign. More than fifty years later, the campaign remains one of the most enduring and significant examples of international worker solidarity.

Following the end of the Cold War, many trade unions from the former Eastern Bloc joined the ITF. As its influence continued to expand, the ITF came to represent an increasing number of workers across more countries than ever before. The centenary of the ITF’s founding was celebrated in London in 1996 with a special congress.

The Objectives of the ITF

The objectives of the ITF are set out in the ITF Constitution. In summary, these objectives are to:

  • promote respect for human rights and trade union rights worldwide;
  • work for peace based on social justice and economic development;
  • support affiliated unions in protecting and advancing the interests of their members;
  • provide research and information services to its affiliates; and
  • offer support to transport workers whenever they face difficulties.

The ITF’s wide-ranging activities can broadly be grouped into three areas: representation, information sharing, and practical international solidarity.

The ITF represents the interests of transport workers by participating in international organizations such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), all of which develop policies and standards concerning employment, working conditions, and safety in the transport sector.

One of the ITF’s most significant roles is to internationalize local struggles. When an affiliated transport union is engaged in a dispute with an employer or government in one country, the ITF mobilizes support from affiliated unions around the world and coordinates international solidarity campaigns.

Founded in 1896, the ITF is organized into eight transport sectors:

  • Seafarers
  • Railways
  • Road Transport
  • Civil Aviation
  • Ports
  • Inland Navigation
  • Fisheries
  • Tourism Services

The ITF Maritime Department

Within the ITF Maritime Department, three specialist sections focus on maritime issues:

  • Fisheries Section
  • Seafarers’ Section
  • Special Seafarers’ Department (SSD)

The Special Seafarers’ Department (SSD) is responsible for the operational implementation of the ITF’s Flag of Convenience (FOC) Campaign, which has been running for nearly seventy years. The Seafarers’ Section, by contrast, focuses primarily on the campaign’s policy and strategic dimensions. Its responsibilities include maritime policy, combating substandard shipping, promoting maritime safety, and addressing broader issues affecting the global shipping industry.

Fishing workers and seafarers employed on commercial vessels often face many of the same challenges. As the use of flags of convenience has increasingly expanded into the deep-sea fishing industry, the Fisheries Section and the Seafarers’ Section have developed a close working relationship within the ITF Maritime Department. The Seafarers’ Section also works closely with the ITF Ports Section, particularly in connection with the Flag of Convenience Campaign and other international initiatives.

The ITF Maritime Department publishes the annual Seafarers’ Bulletin in several languages and distributes it worldwide to affiliated unions and seafarers.

Seafarers’ Section

The ITF Seafarers’ Section works to protect the rights and interests of all affiliated unions representing both officers and ratings. Its membership includes unions from traditional maritime nations as well as unions from countries that supply seafarers to the international shipping industry for employment on national-flag, second-register, and flag-of-convenience vessels.

The Section is actively involved in issues such as marine pollution, maritime safety, and broader policy matters affecting the international shipping industry.

Every four years, the Section convenes a conference open to all ITF-affiliated maritime unions. The Section’s activities are guided by a number of committees, including regional committees and specialist subcommittees, which help determine its priorities and policies.

Cooperation with International Organizations

In addition to the work carried out through its committees, subcommittees, and specialist working groups, the ITF Secretariat cooperates closely with a number of international organizations to strengthen its effectiveness.

Alongside other non-governmental organizations, the ITF participates as an accredited observer in numerous committees and subcommittees of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), with support from representatives of its affiliated unions. The ITF is also represented on the Board of Governors of the World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden, the IMO’s international postgraduate maritime education institution.

Another international body in which the ITF plays an active role is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Within the OECD’s Transport Committee, work is undertaken on issues including competition, transport safety, and environmental protection.

Similarly, the ITF actively participates in the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations agency responsible for labour standards, employment, occupational health, and workplace safety. Within the ILO’s maritime framework, the ITF performs an important coordinating role, particularly through the Joint Maritime Commission (JMC) and during sessions of the ILO Maritime Conference, where decisions directly affecting the living and working conditions of seafarers are adopted.

The ITF also maintains close relationships with a range of other international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Committee on Seafarers’ Welfare (ICSW), and research institutions such as the Seafarers International Research Centre (SIRC) in Cardiff, which specializes in maritime occupational health, safety, and welfare research.

Special Seafarers’ Department (SSD)

In 1952, the ITF decided to establish a Special Seafarers’ Section to provide genuine trade union representation for seafarers serving on Flag of Convenience (FOC) vessels who, because of the nature of their employment, had no opportunity to join an ITF-affiliated national trade union. In 1980, the Section was restructured and renamed the Special Seafarers’ Department (SSD).

Since 1948, the operational implementation of the ITF’s Flag of Convenience (FOC) Campaign has been coordinated by the Special Seafarers’ Department. In addition, the Department is authorized to provide trade union representation and accept into membership seafarers who are unable to join a union for any reason or whose rights cannot be adequately protected by national seafarers’ unions within their domestic legal framework.

The Special Seafarers’ Department is responsible for the operational management of the ITF Flag of Convenience (FOC) Campaign. Its team of specialists provides information, guidance, and practical assistance to seafarers and affiliated unions regarding substandard ships. The Department is also responsible for approving ITF collective bargaining agreements concluded on FOC vessels, receiving and following up complaints from crews covered by those agreements, and coordinating the handling of injury and fatality cases in cooperation with the ITF Legal Department.

The Department also manages and coordinates the global network of approximately 130 ITF Inspectors. Click here to access the complete list of ITF Inspectors.

Within the Special Seafarers’ Department, two specialist units oversee the day-to-day operation of the ITF Flag of Convenience Campaign:

  • Contracts Unit
  • Actions Unit

Contracts Unit

The Contracts Unit is responsible for reviewing all required documentation before an ITF collective bargaining agreement is concluded or renewed. Once an agreement has been approved, the Unit issues the ITF Blue Certificate, which confirms that an ITF-approved collective bargaining agreement is in force on board the vessel.

The Unit also updates information on approved agreements within the ITF Ship System, enabling ITF Inspectors worldwide to access current contractual information quickly and efficiently. During the negotiation of newly concluded or renewed agreements, the Contracts Unit provides guidance to affiliated unions signing agreements on behalf of the ITF, advising them on signing procedures and documentation requirements.

Actions Unit

The Actions Unit provides advice and operational support to ITF-affiliated unions, ITF Inspectors, and other authorized representatives assisting seafarers serving on Flag of Convenience vessels who experience problems such as substandard working and living conditions, unpaid wages, or other violations of their rights.

Every day, the Unit responds to requests for assistance from individual seafarers as well as entire crews.

The Actions Unit advises seafarers, ITF Inspectors, and affiliated unions on appropriate courses of action, available remedies, and, where necessary, legal matters. It also maintains a real-time information system that provides ITF Inspectors with detailed records concerning vessels that have previously come into contact with the ITF, shipowners and their fleets, operating companies, previous inspections, outstanding deficiencies, and other relevant operational information, enabling inspectors to respond rapidly and effectively.

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