who we are

Who we are

The European Trade Union Liaison Committee on Tourism (ETLC) was formed in 1995 in Brussels as a platform for the coordination of European trade union federations and global trade union federations which represent workers in the tourism sector.

The European trade union federations EFFAT, UNI-Europa and ETF represent more than 9 million union members in Europe. They are recognised representatives for their sectors at the European institutions and in the European social dialogue with employers’ organisations.
The European Trade Union Liaison Committee on Tourism represents workers in the various sectors which provide services in tourism, e.g. hotels and restaurants, catering, transport, travel agents, tour operators, leisure parks, tourist offices, tour guides etc.

What we want:

ETLC representation of this wide base of tourism workers has the aim of ensuring that decision-makers at European level take into consideration the specific interests and needs of the tourism workforce and, whenever possible, that the trade unions speak with one voice.
The paramount aim is the promotion of sustanable employment in tourism. We want to achieve this by:

  • Improvement of working conditions for workers in the tourism sector
  • Promotion of training/continuous training in the tourism industry
  • Promotion of the social dialogue in the tourism sector
  • Strengthening cross-border cooperation between trade unions which represent workers in the tourism sector

What we do:

Some of the ETLC activities:

  • June 1995, joint declaration on the Commission’s Green Paper on the role of the European Union in the tourism sector
  • November 1996, resolution against prostitution tourism and child prostitution
  • October 1998, joint statement on undeclared work
  • 1998 and 2000, study: ‘What Kind of Jobs in Tourism in Europe?’
  • March 2001, Conference on „The impact of the concentration process in the European travel and tourism industry on the tourism sector in the tourism destinations“, in Tenerife
  • 2001, nomination of trade union representatives as experts to the working groups of the EU Commission’s Tourism Advisory Committee
  • October 2001, Declaration on the impact of the terrorist attacks in the US on tourism
  • November 2002, Position paper on sustainability in the tourism sector
  • Since 2002, participation in the annual European Tourism Forum
    Annual conferences for trade union representatives in the European tourism sector

    • Download our brochure here