UK Rail Freight Operator Reaches Successful Agreement with Trade Union Partners

UK – DB Cargo UK, the largest rail freight operator in Britain, has reached successful agreements with the four trade unions representing a majority of its workforce, meaning it will launch its future business model on July 2, as planned. ASLEF, RMT, TSSA and Unite have been in discussions since October 2016 with DB, when the company announced proposals to cut 893 jobs (almost a third of its workforce) in a restructure triggered by the rapid decline in the core market of coal.

Although no solid figures have been given it is apparent that there will be some job cuts but as part of the agreement the working arrangements of employees will be updated and modernised. Hans-Georg Werner, CEO of DB Cargo UK, said:

“I would like to thank ASLEF, RMT, TSSA and Unite for their continued dialogue with us. Under the pressures of the market we were able to find agreements acceptable to all parties and avoid industrial action. We regret that some colleagues will be leaving us but treating our people fairly to secure a business that will be successful in the future has been at the heart of our discussions.

“We will now move forward with our plans to lead the next generation of rail freight which includes key investments such as new wagons, terminal enhancements and combining our core function of delivering goods by rail with bespoke in-house IT solutions, to give our customers the best service and make it easy for them to do business with us.”