There are ‘social conflicts’ and ‘social uneasiness’ in the European rail industry

The rail freight industry is currently experiencing a variety of challenges. One of them revolves around its ageing workforce and their working conditions, another one is the state of state-owned operators. Railway workers from the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) trade union took the matter to Brussels, bringing concrete demands to ensure the crucial role of rail.
ETF organised ‘From the Tracks to Brussels’, an opportunity for a dialogue between workers and policymakers. The union’s General Secretary Livia Spera described the current situation as characterised by “social conflicts” and “social uneasiness”, where “national conflicts risk becoming European ones”.

‘Working conditions cannot worsen’

In order to improve things, a motivated workforce is vital, as policymakers pointed out. “Working conditions and wages cannot go down if EU countries want to attract young talent to the industry”, said Kristian Schmidt, Director of Land Transport at DG MOVE. The average age of railway workers in many EU countries is quite high, and the rate of retirement is higher than the one for recruitment.

In other words, there are fewer and fewer railway workers in many member states, and something needs to be done if the issue is to be solved. Other industry experts underlined the importance of union negotiations rights and recording working hours digitally to ensure safety standards.

‘State aid guidelines are causing stagnation’

Another issue addressed at the ETF event was the state of publicly-owned rail freight operators. From France to Germany and Poland, these companies are facing massive restructurings to avoid heavy sanctions from European institutions. Moreover, the EU is pushing for the liberalisation of the rail sector, something that ETF is not very fond of.

“Relying on private investors without strong regulatory oversight could erode public rail’s social function”, said a representative from DB Cargo. Other speakers added that the pressure from the EU when it comes to state aid rules are threatening the very survival of the industry’s largest players. Spera concluded by claiming that the current “EU’s state aid guidelines that prioritise competition over transport needs” will lead to a continuation of stagnation for rail freight.