Meetings with EU Transport Commissioner and MEP´s

by | May 23, 2025 | Uncategorized

A delegation of ALE, together with CESI – Independent Trade Unions, met in Brussels during two days with the cabinet of the EUCommissioner for Transport, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, DG MOVE and several Members of the European Parliament, focusing on TRAN Committee & Committee on Employment and Social Affairs.

We highlighted the main concerns of the European train drivers’ community:

👩‍✈️ 👨‍✈️ Revision of the EU train drivers’ Directive
💹 Challenges for rail transport in the EU, especially freight transport, and the EU’s commitment to the sector
🤝 Working conditions in the railway profession and challenges in the supply of labour in the sector as a result of the ageing workforce
♻️ Contribution of rail transport to climate change mitigation
🚝 EU Commission’s initiative Connecting Europe through high-speed rail
🪪 Functioning of Directive 2016/797 on the Interoperability of the rail system

These high-level meetings are aimed at enhancing the value of our profession, achieving the objectives set by Europe in terms of the single railway area, sustainability, mobility and adequate safety standards, hand in hand with the frontline workers´ perspective.

SERA roadmap can be achieved by involving all stakeholders, and the social dialogue is one of the drivers for this challenge.

Press Release – ALE Position Paper

Press Release – ALE Position Paper

by | Apr 20, 2020 | Uncategorized

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