EUROPEAN ROUND-UP

RMTnews :: february 2006 :: www.rmt.org.uk 24 German railway workers may stage strikes during the World Cup this summer if the government moves to sell-off the state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB). "We don't want to but if necessary we will strike during the World Cup," Klaus-Dieter Hommel, the head of one of two unions representing German railway workers said. Germany’s new conservative government has endorsed the outgoing Social Democrat-Green coalition’s policy to privatise the country’s rail group DB, probably in 2008. However, workers have serious concerns that the sell-off will slash up to 50,000 jobs – a fifth of DB’s 250,000 workforce. Germany's transport minister Wolfgang Tiefensee said that the government would decide later exactly how to privatise Deutsche Bahn for a stock market listing. He said that one option would be to split Bahn into two firms, one operating tracks and the other operating trains, in line with EU directive 91/440. However, DB chief executive Hartmut Mehdorn opposes such a split and wants to privatise an integrated rail network. Meanwhile, DB expects its final 2005 profits to double the £160 million reported in 2004 – its first profits for 10 years. FINLAND DEMANDS DELAY IN EU RAIL AND BUS ‘LIBERALISATION’ RULES The Finnish government is demanding longer transition periods than the European Commission envisions in its proposal on EU rail, bus and coach services, according to a letter sent by the Ministry of Transport and Communications to Parliament. The ministry would like to see the transition periods run until at least 2017 and until 2015 in bus and coach traffic. The new regulations, which have been under preparation since 2000, would bring public transport contracts under open tender in the name of ‘liberalisation’. UNION ACTION COMPELS SWITCH TO UK FLAG French unions through their action have compelled LD Lines to switch its new Portsmouth-Le Havre ferry service from the Italian second register to the British flag. The Norman Spirit, the only ferry on the line, is expected to change register flag by September 30. LD Lines, a subsidiary of France’s Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, started the service at the beginning of October when it took over the route from P&O. Most of the crew is Italian, but British, French and Portuguese nationals also serve on board. Last December about 100 French seafarers prevented the vessel from docking at Le Havre in protest that a cross Channel ferry was flying the Italian flag. The Norman Spirit, which was carrying 80 lorries and some passengers, was only able to berth after several hours at sea when the action was called off. LD Lines said the Italian flag was legal but despite extra costs it would switch registers to “ensure a secure operation”. SCANDAL IN SPAIN: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO “PRESTIGE”? The massive pollution by the sinking of the Bahamas- registered Prestige off the coast of Galicia, northern Spain in 2002 has caused a major scandal in Spain with the leak of a tape that reveals that the vessel was allowed to remain at sea despite a call for help. A tape of a conversation between the then director- general of Spain’s merchant marine and the head of the national maritime rescue centre was released by Izquierda Unida, the communist coalition. It revealed a decision to send the damaged Prestige out to sea was taken without technical advice hours after the vessel had issued a MayDay. During the conversation, the merchant director said the aim was to tow the ship away from the coast until it sank. The authorities had previously claimed the decision to tow the ship away from the coast was taken after consultation with experts. At the time, most maritime experts said the ship should have been taken to a place of refuge. Tens of thousands of tonnes of toxic fuel oil which leaked from the Prestige after it sank will continue to pollute the shore for a decade and Greenpeace complains that no change has been made in international legislation to prevent accidents of this sort in the future. FRENCH UNIONS SLAM NEW MINIMUM SALARIES France’s six main maritime unions have slammed the government’s minimum salary rates for skilled seafarers resident outside France but working on board ships registered under the RIF, France’s new International Ship register. The unions said the $620 (£400) a month minimum monthly salary, based on the ITF’s agreement with the Filipino union AMOSUP, is “dishonest” as it does not meet its claim to be based on ITF criteria. The owners’ association supports the new rates. The unions said the conditions laid down are far from ITF agreements that cover 8,300 vessels including several operated by French owners. They said the government’s document does not take into account the ITF’s minimum salary scales and leaves such important aspects such as overtime pay, leave and meal allowances to the discretion of the owner. Seafarers’ health coverage rights are unclear. “We rejected the RIF from the outset and will continue to fight it”, the unions said. “The government’s salary conditions will ensure that the RIF will remain classified as an FoC”. EUROPEAN ROUND-UP German rail workers to strike against privatisation during World Cup SUNK: The Prestige oil tanker floats above water before sinking off the coast of Galicia, northwestern Spain on November 19 2002.