Press Release – ALE Board of Directors

Press Release – ALE Board of Directors

by | May 27, 2020 | News

27th Mai 2020

 

Yesterday afternoon a meeting of the ALE Board of Directors took place in an extraordinary way, due to the COVID-19 crisis, and was held for the first time virtually.

The President of ALE, Juan Jesús García Fraile, made a brief presentation of the most worrying issues for us as a professional union of train drivers in Europe and the path we have taken, based on safety, training, professionalism and employment, to get out of this pothole all together, but emphasizing and focusing on social, labour and economic rights of railway workers and in particular of train drivers.

Each member shared its particular situation with the entire Board of Directors, finding more common ground: the willingness of all of us, both at local and general level, to work side by side with organisations and institutions in order to guarantee the return to a safe and progressive railway operation, within the framework of quality employment and with the intention of continuing to provide an essential service to citizens, a commitment that all train drivers throughout Europe have amply demonstrated by carrying out their activity in the most difficult times, thus allowing for continuity in development and the adoption of measures that allow society to maintain a level, sometimes minimal, of guarantees of mobility, supply of essential goods and sustainability.

Given that we are at a critical time for the European railways due to the transposition of the 4th Railway Package and the pandemic that has ravaged the world, we see the need to repeat these meetings with the main representatives of European train drivers frequently in order to be able to check that the return to normality is being measured in each of the Member States and that nobody is being left behind as a result of interested acts to the detriment of the conditions of all our colleagues.

We hope that the light at the end of the tunnel will be translated into a short-term future in which rail transport is finally promoted as the backbone of the territory and as a sustainable means of bringing both people and goods into their homes in a safe and clean manner.

Press Release – ALE Position Paper

Press Release – ALE Position Paper

by | Apr 20, 2020 | News

Today, more than ever and in the conditions we least desire, the need for and the importance of trade unions is becoming apparent.

Throughout Europe, we have seen with joy in ALE that our member unions, professional unions of Train Drivers, have worked side by side with companies and governments to cope with this situation and to maintain jobs, moving the railway operation forward and ensuring the health and integrity of our colleagues.

The train drivers´ work, committed, professional and essential in our times, has made clear the importance and relevance they have within railway companies and, once again, they have proved their worth in the most difficult times.

When all of this goes away, when this global pandemic is just a bad memory, we must keep in mind that the global health crisis cannot be an excuse for certain companies to undermine the rights of rail workers; we are fulfilling our duties as train drivers and we will work to make our environment more committed, more professional, more trained and safer.

It is time for the effective “shift to rail”, the mode of transport that supports this crisis. It is time to fulfil the European Green Deal and make this world more eco-sustainable. It is time to finally give freight transport by train the importance it deserves.

We will continue to demand that the transposition of the 4th Railway Package cannot be an “à la carte” transposition; the Safety Directive is clear and we must, together, ensure that the standards that comprise it are carried out in each Member State. Safety and a Just Safety Culture will, as always, mark our roadmap.

As a train driver, a railway man and a worker, I would like to send a message of encouragement to all our colleagues and a desire for health for all of them and their relatives.

 

 

Juan Jesús García Fraile
PRESIDENT OF ALE
Thanks for not giving up

Thanks for not giving up

by | Mar 25, 2020 | News

We would like to thank you all for the work you are carrying out in these very difficult circumstances in which we find ourselves. Thanks to you, many workers are being able to get to their jobs, guaranteeing the supply and the infrastructures that maintain us, contributing to the world not being paralyzed and that, together, we can get out of this crisis.

Throughout these hard days, we are receiving stories from many countries in Europe. People committed to the health of their colleagues, responsible in the use of the means provided, involved in keeping their job and hands disinfected, and over all these stories of effort and positivity, actions that make us feel proud to belong to a kind of work like ours is, to be a train driver.

And because of that…

Thanks for being responsible

Thank you for your commitment

Thanks for your involvement

Thank you for your effort

There are many people that, like us, must be providing their services and thanks to our effort, many of them can continue coming to their work to carry out those essential tasks like ours. Without our effort, nothing would be possible.

Thanks for not giving up.

 

Jõao Paulo Flores, President of SMAQ pass away

Jõao Paulo Flores, President of SMAQ pass away

by | Mar 17, 2020 | News

Today we receive the news that our friend and colleague Jõao Flores, President of SMAQ, the portuguese train drivers union, has passed away.

From these lines we want to thank you for your predisposition, desire to work and good communication with our european union since you took charge of the SMAQ in 2019. For the entire ALE it has been a pleasure and we are very proud that a true railway worker and defender of the rights of train drivers, as was always Jõao, has accompanied us.

We also want to convey to his family and loved ones our deepest sorrow and all our support in these difficult moments.

Memorandum of Understanding ALE-ETF

Memorandum of Understanding ALE-ETF

by | Feb 13, 2020 | News

 

Yesterday, February 13th 2020, the collaboration agreement between ALE and ETF (European Transport Worker´s Federation) was finally signed. It is a historic moment because the two european organizations wich combine the representation of almost all the train drivers, understand that it is time to give greater strength to the trade union movement in Europe.

The strength of the ALE member unions, together with the support provided by the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CESI), has made it possible to initiate a collaborative process, equally with ETF, that leads us to strengthen and improve social, labor and economic conditions for the train drivers, ensuring adequate training standards and that are to achieve the great objective of ensuring greater safety in the rail system through the Just Culture.

At a time of change, due to the transposition of the 4th Railway Package, we have to focus our efforts on getting European institutions to see, now more than ever, that train drivers are united, regardless of the organization to which they belong, and that we will continue working for the welfare of our collective.