The National Trade Union Confederation MERIDIAN’s contribution to the public presentation on “European Rail Freight Corridors” Bucharest, 17 September 2009 The National Trade Union Confederation MERIDIAN “Solutions through social dialogue and negotiations” The National Trade Union Confederation MERIDIAN is a nationally representative trade union organisation to which are affiliated federations, national unions and unions representing workers from: transport, public television, mining, defence, public service, judicial staff, police and other institutions responsible for public order, water management, forestry, metallurgy, agriculture, etc. Since its founding in 1994, NTUC MERIDIAN has passed through every phase of trade unionist manifestation. Initially, its aim was to obtain a quick and lasting effect, supposed to represent workers' claims. The political, social and economic evolution of Romania led unions to adapt their means of fighting and negotiating to the requirements of the new order established with the events of December 1989. For trade unions, the changes have been visible. Romanian trade unions have gradually had to come to terms with the idea that the State is no longer the main social partner, that, due to current circumstances in Romania, it has proven to be an inefficient manager of public companies, and that it is creating fewer and fewer jobs. Trade unions and employers have begun to learn this lesson, and we should recognise the importance in this regard of European programmes, the support of our European colleagues, and the teachings of autonomous bipartite social dialogue. In some areas, this type of social dialogue is effective and meets expectations, while in others, the opposite applies. Another lesson that MERIDIAN learned during the strong trade unionist movement of the miners and railway workers in the years 1997-1999 was to establish a culture of negotiation and ongoing constructive dialogue. In this respect, the organisation began to promote the interests of union members and the communities from which they came, launching a series of national and international conferences, seminars, workshops and debates. Social and civic dialogue has become our main tool to interact with other partners: government, employers’ organisations and civil society organisations. The presence of the confederation’s representatives in the Economic and Social Council of Romania and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) guarantees that the economic and social interests of our members are represented and enables us to be part of 1
an institutionalised process of social and civic dialogue which is rendered legitimate by the Constitution and national and European regulations. The Romanian pre-accession period and subsequently that of effective EU membership was favourable to expanding the organisation’s area of interest from national to European level and revealed new opportunities and tools to modernise and boost the efficiency of trade union negotiation. A number of social rights were won de facto due to our country’s commitment to implementing European Community legislation, which in many respects is more favourable to Romanian workers. Other rights, such as the freedom of association, were strengthened. At European level, at the initiative of the affiliated federation and through the representative of the confederation in the EESC, NTUC MERIDIAN is committed to promoting and supporting issues of strategic interest both for Romania and the European Union. Since 2007, the EESC has issued three opinions, the rapporteur for which was MERIDIAN’s representative: two on the non-energy mining industry and one on European rail freight corridors. NTUC MERIDIAN is involved in the European and national debate regarding the creation of a European network giving priority to freight. Why this debate was held in Bucharest In a society addicted to oil, under a continuous threat of depletion of oil resources in less than 50 years, and facing the apocalyptic scenario in which climate change caused by human activities could lead to irreversible changes on our planet, now is the time to realise that the world cannot continue to evolve in the same way because this might be the end of human civilisation. This is a turning point that will influence the life of the next generations. It is well known that transport activities are largely responsible for carbon emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere. At the same time, mobility of people and goods is now more important than ever. Almost every human activity involves the use of some kind of transport. It is quite simple: at this level of development of human civilization, we cannot deprive ourselves of the need to carry and to be transported, but what we can do is make every effort to create more efficient ways and means of transport that will reduce air and noise pollution as well as congestion of the main regional, national and European transport networks. Europe is a continent with a very well developed road infrastructure compared to other parts of the world. The EU's road transport plays a decisive role in ensuring mobility of people and goods. Most Europeans feel that investment in road infrastructure is vital and they want politicians to produce practical solutions. However, largely owing to the prospect of oil reserves running out, the European Union is committed to encouraging co-modality in transport activities and to supporting the development of infrastructure for environmentally-friendly modes of transport, making us less dependent on oil. Rail transport might be one of the main solutions for ensuring sustainable mobility for citizens and goods in the post-oil era. Besides the need to develop an appropriate infrastructure for waterways, it is also necessary to expand and upgrade rail infrastructure in order to have efficient and competitive rail transport services. 2
The initiative of the European Commission of encouraging Member States to contribute to the creation of European rail transport corridors for freight incorporates a series of actions and strategic measures promoted by the EU institutions at global and Community level in order to mitigate the negative effects of global warming, reduce all forms of pollution and implement a growth model based on sustainable development principles. NTUC MERIDIAN’s position on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning a European rail network for competitive freight is similar to that expressed in the EESC opinion. The EESC plenary session held on 15 July 2009 in Brussels, adopted the EESC opinion on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning a European rail network for competitive freight (COM(2008) 852 final – 2008/0247 (COD)). The EESC rapporteur for this opinion was the representative of the National Trade Union Confederation MERIDIAN in this European advisory body. Rail freight corridors is an innovative and strategic approach taken by the European Commission. It is designed to enable, through investment and concrete political actions, the future development of the rail transport network in Europe, in addition to enhancing the quality and interoperability of rail infrastructure and services and boosting the attractiveness of this mode of transport so that in the short and medium term, it will be possible to attract significant freight volume which up to now has been transported by road. Establishing the necessary conditions at European and national level to increase freight volumes transported by rail might result in a major drop in carbon emissions, decongestion of road traffic and an enhanced level of safety for road transport. The Confederation and the trade union federations from this sector affiliated to NTUC MERIDIAN have been actively involved in this European debate by organising specific trade union actions and consulting European and national decision-making authorities: the discussion held with Mr Jonathan Scheele, Director of DG Transport is an important aspect of this, involving the presentation of the EESC opinion as well as the main issues connected to the worrying situation of the Romanian rail sector. The President of the National Trade Union Confederation MERIDIAN, Mr Ion Popescu, has secured the participation and partnership of Mr Scheele and the European Commission in the organisation of a debate to be held in Bucharest in September 2009, at the initiative of MERIDIAN and in partnership with the EESC, the European Commission, the Romanian Chamber of Deputies and the Romanian Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. Three important trade union organisations in the transport sector are affiliated to MERIDIAN: the National Federation of Trade Unions Traffic-Trade in Rail Transport, Romanian Railway Transporters Trade Union Federation and the Federation of the Railways Construction Workers’ Unions and Ways of Communication of Romania. All three trade unions are representative social partners in their sector of activity. The situation of rail transport in Romania. Actions proposed by trade union federations from this sector 3
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