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EU Organisations

European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT)

Introduction

EFFAT is the European Federation of Trade Unions in the Food, Agriculture and Tourism sectors. EFFAT was founded in 2000 when the European Committee of Food, Catering and Allied Workers (ECF) merged with the European Federation of Agricultural Workers' Union (EFA). It is a single umbrella organisation serving trade unions throughout the food-processing chain ‘from farm to fork’.

Structure, key stakeholders and partners

EFFAT is an autonomous European trade union federation. As a European Federation representing 120 national trade unions from 35 European countries, EFFAT defends the interests of more than 2.6 million members towards the European Institutions, European industrial federations and enterprise management.

EFFAT is a member of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and also a regional organisation within the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied.

In recent years EFFAT has set up European Works Councils in more than 100 transnational groups and has a successful social dialogue under way in agriculture, hotel & restaurant, contract catering, food, sugar and tobacco sectors.

Priorities and activities

EFFAT concentrates on the following topics:

  • Creating and maintaining better jobs and employment relationships;
  • Promoting the qualification of employees;
  • Improving health and safety at work;
  • Cooperation and coordination in collective bargaining;
  • Gender equality;
  • Strengthening EFFAT trade unions in transnational companies;
  • Focusing on Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and Turkey.

Further information