An ETF delegation joined its French affiliates CGT-Cheminots, CFDT- Cheminots and UNSA-Ferroviaire in Lille on Thursday, 22 June 2023, in protest against expanding privatisation of rail in France.
Taking place at the same time as a meeting of the councillors of the Hauts-de-France Region, the railways’ unions of France used the regional protest against the decision of this regional assembly to open up the regional rails line to competition as an occasion to protest the privatisation of freight and passenger rail.
Increasing complexity in rail systems will only lead to loss of quality and conditions of the service for users, as well as put further downward pressures on wages and working conditions for railways workers. National and international governments continue in their dogmatic dismantling of rail as a public service, with the European Commission unyielding in its attacks on SNCF Fret and DB Cargo putting thousands of railway worker jobs at risk. However, today’s national demonstration exhibits the unity of European transport workers and citizens against these attacks.
The European trade union movement is united and resolute in its opposition against further dismantling and privatisation of railway companies at the expense of their utility as a public service, and the ETF continues to work hard to defend railways and its workers to ensure that rail transport is a public service fit for a fair and sustainable Europe.