European round-up

Plan advances for Bayonne-Liverpool route MARSEILLES-based MBS has developed a plan for a new route from Bayonne, south- west France to Liverpool.The route, which is expected to be established before the end of the year, is awaiting the go- ahead for short-sea route subsidies. If all goes according to plan, a freighter will be chartered in November. German parliament rejects floatation of state rail firm THE German parliament has voted unanimously against the entry of Deutsche Bahn (DB), the state-owned train operator, onto the stock exchange.The vote was taken against the opinion of Social Democratic government-appointed “committee of experts” that favours opening DB’s capital ahead of full privatisation. Many MPs do not oppose privatisation but want DB to return to profit before any sell- off. DB is demanding an extension of the working week to 40 hours from the present 38.5 hours without extra pay and cuts in performance payments. DB, Europe’s largest rail operator employing almost 250,000 people, has already shed over 150,000 jobs. Norway to open passenger traffic to competition ARRIVA and First are competing to take over Norway’s state rail passenger network when passenger traffic is opened to competition next year following the UK, Germany, Sweden and Denmark and European Union rules.The British companies, France’s Connex and Keolis, a Norwegian operator and a Danish firm are bidding for the profitable 123-km route that links the capital, Oslo to Gjovik, which carries 1.4 million passengers a year.The Norwegian government is considering privatising the country’s two most important main line routes between Oslo, Stavanger and Bergen. French rail unions slam restrictions on right to strike FRENCH unions have reacted strongly to the conservative government’s “minimum service” proposals to force transport workers to stay on the job during strikes. Eight rail unions slammed the proposals as a restriction on the right to strike and threatened industrial action if they are adopted by the government. The government committee also suggested that unions be required to notify employers 10 days ahead of industrial action - twice the current five days. It recommended that unions be required to negotiate during the first seven days of the 10- day period before walking off the job and that each worker intending to strike indicate as such 48 hours before a strike. Spanish court demands 117 years gaol for shipowner A SPANISH prosecutor has demanded 117 years impris- onment for the owner of a vessel that sank with the loss of the lives of 37 illegal immigrants.The shipwreck, on October 25 2003 in the Bay of Cadiz, caused the worst ever loss of life recorded in Spanish history for this type of incident. The prosecutor asked the court to sentence Hamic Chejchij, the Moroccan owner of the vessel, to three years imprisonment for the manslaughter of each person on board plus six years for infringing Spain’s immigration laws. EUROPEANROUND-UP RMT has submitted a critical submission on the European Union’s so-called third railway package, which proposes to extend the privatisation of rail networks and introduce an EU train driving license. The union pointed out that the privatisation of the UK rail network has brought chaos, delay and multiple interfaces, resulting in a waste of public resources. RMT’s disagreement with the European Commission’s policy of “liberalising” European rail industries, as expressed in their first two rail packages, is well established. All these measures will lead to the privatisation and fragmen- tation of national rail systems, replacing them with high speed freight and passenger lines dedicated to servicing “just-in-time” production for the “globalised” economy. “The unelected European Commission is pressing ahead with privatisation under direct pressure from the World Trade Organisation, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Proposals contained in the third railway package are also in line with the policies of the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS)”, the submission says. RMT said proposals to amend Council Directive 91/440/EEC to further open up European rail networks to private sector interests will be detrimental to passengers and rail workers. Brussels proposals for train crew to require an EU license to operate cross- border services within the next ten years will lead to an increase in cross-border working without any real social protection from the kind of social dumping that has occurred within the road freight and shipping industries. RMT opposes EU proposals for rail privatisation PRIVATISATION: German rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) has demanded and increase in working hours from staff and plans to raise ticket prices by an average of over three per cent before privatising the network. 24