by Alejandro Martínez Treceño | Mar 14, 2024 | News
The ALE – Federation of European Train Drivers Unions Executive Presidency has been meeting in Warsaw over the last days to establish the #strategic lines of work to strengthen the railway sector in Europe, promoting the profession of train drivers.
The upcoming EU #elections, the revision of the Train Drivers’ #Directive, and the development of our participation in several working groups of the European Union Agency for Railways and the European Commission, were the main topics discussed.
The next meeting of the ALE #Board, where all the European train drivers’ Unions that make up ALE, will meet soon in #Rome to exchange experiences, work together and agree common positions for our activity at EU level.
by Alejandro Martínez Treceño | Sep 8, 2023 | UE Commission
On the 5th, we participated in Brussels at the European Parliament in a breakfast debate organized by Barbara T. MEP in collaboration with ALLRAIL (Alliance of Passenger Rail New Entrants) and ERFA-European Rail Freight Association, also with the presence of representatives from the Directorate-General for mobility and transport of the European Commission.
The topic of the meeting was the revision of the Train Drivers Directive #TDD and, among the most relevant points currently under discussion, the language requirements necessary for drivers operating in cross-border traffic were discussed.
The ALE – Federation of European Train Drivers Unions Secretary General, Alejandro Martínez Treceño, emphasized the importance of being careful during the process of the revision of the Train Drivers’ Directive, stressing the importance of #safety in order to ensure that it is not put in risk in any way.
We all want #more rail in Europe, but not at any price. The challenges we face make it necessary to complement the objectives of sustainable transport and the promotion of rail as the more eco-friendly means of transport, together with a European standard that makes the profession of train driver attractive to new generations, given the high average age of our collective in Europe. It means appropriate working conditions, safe profession, adequate salaries, high standards of training, etc.
By maintaining high safety levels, and providing adequate and standardized training that does not lead to unbalances in obtaining the European driving Licenses and Certificates between different countries, we will be ready to reach the objectives we all pursue.
by Alejandro Martínez Treceño | Nov 23, 2022 | News
The past November 18th, representatives from ALE attended the 2nd meeting on the revision of the European Directive for Certification of Train Drivers 2007/59/CE, both physically and remotely.
As a Federation of several European train drivers´ unions, we are/were able to put on the table the differences between Member States and propose a common solution.
Our organization was presented as a key stakeholder in the railway sector, directly involved in this revision. Although we are somewhat aligned in maintaining high standards of safety and training, unfortunately we still detected points of misunderstanding in the railway sector and the train drivers’ profession from the point of view of other organizations.
ALE left clear its position about the guidelines this revision should follow, in order to enhance the safety, reliability and efficiency of our job and the railway sector in general.
Furthermore, ALE stressed the importance to listen to train drivers’ feedback in order to achieve the milestones included in the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Plan.
In any situation involving a reduction of requirements in relation to driver training, technical and management expertise we will not agree. The objectives of interoperability and mobility can be improved without workers bearing the burden of certain regulatory changes.
by Alejandro Martínez Treceño | Oct 6, 2022 | News
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.
by Alejandro Martínez Treceño | Jun 22, 2022 | News
Safety Culture and European Social Dialogue were the main topics of the meeting we held this morning with the President and representatives of the European Air Traffic Controllers’ Union (ATCEUC – www.atceuc.org).
This meeting, between European trade union organizations of professionals on whom safety has a considerable impact, responds to the need to join forces in order to achieve common objectives in our sector. The current railway liberalization and the unbalanced transposition of the 4th Railway Package among the member States, as well as the lack of railway operations after the Covid 19 pandemic, which are causing a fall in railway jobs, where there is already a high average age, have been topics discussed during this morning.
The need to provide accident and incident Investigation Bodies with independence and human and economic resources to make transport safer and more reliable, to work in a preventive way, and to look for the causes in order to propose solutions was highlighted.
We will continue to work hand in hand to share experience, work against labor and social dumping in our sector, and carry out joint proposals.
