International Transport Workers' Federation
ITF · Founded 1896 · London, United Kingdom · United Kingdom
- Membership scope
- Global federation of 700+ transport-worker unions across 150+ countries; ~19.7 million transport-worker members total, of whom ~200,000 are seafarers directly represented.
- Key CBA framework
- ITF Uniform TCC (all FoC vessels signing an ITF agreement); ITF Standard Collective Agreement
- Website
- www.itfglobal.org
What this union does
The International Transport Workers' Federation is the umbrella body for the world's transport-worker unions and, since the 1948 Flags of Convenience campaign, the most consequential single institution in seafarer labour advocacy. Founded in 1896 in London during a dispute over Anglo-German railway labour standards, the ITF today groups ~700 national transport unions representing 19.7 million transport workers across every major economy. Its seafarers' section runs the FoC campaign (targeting registries like Panama, Liberia, and the Marshall Islands that historically undercut national CBA standards), publishes the ITF Uniform TCC that sets a per-rank monthly benchmark against which most FoC-vessel CBAs are measured, and — most visibly to working crew — deploys ~130 ITF-accredited inspectors in ports worldwide who board vessels to enforce ITF-signed collective bargaining agreements and pursue wage-recovery cases. The ITF inspector on the gangway is often the single most useful person a seafarer can contact when their pay stops arriving.
Contact route
https://www.itfglobal.org/en/get-help — help pathway; local ITF inspector list at itfglobal.org/en/find-inspector.