On 4 and 5 October, the 9th Congress of our organisation was held in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), bringing together train drivers from 13 different countries and the professional unions that represent them to work, debate and emerge stronger and more united.
CESI’s Secretary General opened the event with a speech highlighting the importance of ALE as a social partner in the European transport sector.
The member unions, aware that the challenges facing ALE in the coming years will be fundamental for the development of the profession of train drivers and the European railways, have decided to adopt a new set of internal organisational measures.
Despite the difficult times of recent years, the member unions have agreed on the good work of the Executive Presidency during its term of office and have demonstrated this by re-electing them again for the 2022-2026 term of office. In addition, the post of Secretary General has been created, which will give more impetus to the technical work we carry out with the European institutions.
The current process of revising the Directive on the Certification of Train Drivers was one of the main issues discussed, as well as the concern about the high average age of train drivers in Europe and the need to make this profession attractive to young people, which requires adequate working and social and economic conditions and the guarantee that safety standards are not lowered, but increased.