Freight transfer to union buster?


Industrial action on Britain's freight trains is on the cards after the TSSA rail union declared a dispute with its German government owned Deutsche Bahn Cargo (DBC).


TSSA general Secretary Manuel Cortes believes the German government is using Brexit as a pretext to reorganise the business and is hiving off skilled and unionised workers to a company with a history of union busting.


Sixteen jobs are due to be transferred to anti-union haulage company Maritime from DBC on 1 April. Maritime is currently refusing to recognise TSSA members’ right to retain their union rights.


Cortes said: "Union rights aren't a luxury and it is an outrage that Maritime think they can simply shove our members around. It also shows that they have suspect work practices in store for our members. 


"The fall in the value of the pound is hitting DBC hard as profits repatriated to Germany from the UK have taken a massive devaluation hit. This is opening the door for a ‘race to the bottom’ operators like Maritime haulage with its long history of anti-union practice to get a foothold in our British rail industry.


"Right now it's workers union rights they are prepared to auction off. Then it'll be wages they start to cut. Soon after, rail safety standards. So it's not hard to see why we are in dispute. It's also why I am warning DBC that industrial action is firmly on the cards."


www.tssa.org.uk/en/whats-new/news/index.cfm/tssa-in-dispute-over-union-busting-transfer