ON International Youth Day, August 12, the International Transport Worker Federation (ITF) highlighted the critical role of young workers in the transport industry and called on unions to actively support and empower them.
In a statement, ITF said young transport workers are the backbone of the global economy, yet they often face precarious work conditions, including low wages, long hours, and exposure to physical and mental harm.
To address these challenges, the ITF urges unions to create spaces for young workers within their organizations, support their organizing efforts, and advocate for their rights.
Young transport workers in a conference in 2023 held in India. PHOTO FROM ITF
The ITF stressed the importance of transport unions not just in recruiting young workers but in promoting and supporting young workers’ structures within unions.
It said that every day young transport workers keep the world moving, helping goods and people get where they need to be. Despite this, young workers are often marginalized and face significant barriers to securing decent employment.
The increase in precarious work for young workers often exposes them to physical and mental harm, including violence, harassment and discrimination.
ITF called on the transport unions to:
1. Create spaces for young workers through structures that will increase young transport workers’ activities;
2. Support young transport workers in organizing and campaigning for initiatives in their pursuit of secure and decent employment;
3. Map membership statistics of youth structures within the regions to effectively advocate for, and protect, the rights of young transport workers.
“A just future for all means trade unions being inclusive to all in the present. When trade unions are inclusive of all members of the workforce, when they actively support youth structures, they are stronger,” ITF Young Transport Workers’ Officer Baker Khundakji said.
“Let us raise our collective voices at our Congress in October. Together, unions can build a world fit for our future. Together we can fight for, and win, a just future.”
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