Rail workers’ trade unions divided over restructuring

In 2005, the Slovenian government has been considering a further restructuring of the Slovenian Railways Holding Company (HSZ). At present, there are three rail companies, dealing with infrastructure, passenger transport and freight transport respectively, with the latter two undergoing partial privatisation. Railway workers' trade unions are split over the issue - apparently reflecting the diverging interests of their members - with some favouring the current situation and others calling for a return to a single unified rail company.

The rail transport sector is undergoing a wide-ranging reorganisation process across the European Union member states, involving liberalisation and privatisation prompted largely by EU legislation (TN0003402S).

Since the 1990s, the European Commission has fostered transformations in this sector, considering railways to be one of the most important elements of infrastructure. The ambition was to 'revitalise' the sector, as stated in the Commission's 1996 White Paper on A new strategy for revitalising the Community's railways, at a time when the share of rail in total transport volumes was declining in EU countries. The introduction of market regulatory criteria was therefore considered as the main instrument to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the rail sector. These principles have inspired EU intervention since the Directive 91/440/EEC of 29 July 1991 on the development of the Community's railways. One of the principle measures introduced by the Directive is a distinction between the provision of transport services and the operation of infrastructure. The two activities should be separately managed and should have separate accounts, though there is no need to establish formally separate companies.

In 2001, the 'rail infrastructure package' Directives (Directives 2001/12/EC, 2001/13/EC and 2001/14/EC) were adopted, aimed at reforming the market access rules. A second 'railway package' adopted in April 2004 aims to: accelerate and complete the opening of the rail freight market; establish a common approach to EU rail safety; enhance measures for 'interoperability'; and set up a European railway agency.

Reorganisation of Slovenian Railways

The rail transport sector in Slovenia has traditionally been characterised by a (quasi) monopoly, with a dominant state-owned company operating across the whole country. Since 1999, the infrastructure (railway tracks, safety signalling and telecommunication devices, railway stations etc) has been directly owned by the state and financed by the state budget. This money is then distributed by the Public Agency for Rail Transport of the Republic of Slovenia (Javna Agencija za zelezniski promet Republike Slovenije, JAZPRS). The actual work is performed as a public service by the infrastructural part of the Slovenian Railways Holding Company (Holding Slovenske zeleznice, HSZ). JAZPRS was established by amendments to the Law on Railway Transport, adopted in November 2002. It creation was seen as necessary as part of the adjustment of the relevant legislation to EU law, and especially to the Directives adopted in 2001, prior to Slovenia's accession in 2004.

In 2002, the centre-left government of the time prepared a reorganisation model that would split Slovenian Railways into three companies and partially privatise two of them. A referendum was held on 19 January 2003 over whether Slovenian Railways should remain a single company - as supported by the 'first group' of representative railway workers’ unions (see below) - or be restructured according to the government's scheme. While only 46.9% of voters backed the proposal to keep Slovenian Railways as a single company, over 51% were in favour of the government's model (SI0401102F).

After the referendum, the state reorganised the public joint stock company Slovenian Railways into a holding company, HSZ. According to the Law on Transformation and Privatisation of the Public Company Slovenian Railways (LTPPCSR), HSZ established three dependent companies, dealing with:

• maintenance of railway infrastructure and management of railway transport;

• domestic and international passenger transport; and

• domestic and international freight transport.

The LTPPCSR permits partial privatisation (up to 49%) of the passenger and freight transport companies. However, after privatisation HSZ must remain the majority owner of both companies.

The HSZ infrastructure company performs its tasks as a 'public service fulfilling state orders'. Passenger transport is also treated as a 'public service fulfilling state orders' and is financed substantially by the state. Only freight transport can be completely market-oriented and only this part of the railways could be privatised properly. Before the final reorganisation of HSZ, the operation of passenger and freight trains was separated.

The centre-right government that came to office in 2004 wants to change the current legislation on railways. Some commentators have suggested that these changes will be contrary to the results of the 2003 referendum. The question is whether the present government wants to reorganise HSZ in line with the losing proposal in that referendum, which was backed by many of the railway workers’ unions. These unions demand that HSZ should be made into a single company again (as Slovenian Railways was before 2003) and allocated the public railway infrastructure management role now held by JAZPRS.

Trade union views

There are nine representative railway workers’ trade unions that are parties to the sectoral collective agreement for railway transport on the workers’ side. They represent the majority of workers at HSZ and at the companies of which HSZ is a majority owner.

The Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs (Ministrstvo za delo, druzino in socialne zadeve, MDDSZ) keeps a 'register of representative trade unions' (RRTU) on the basis of the Law on the Representativeness of Trade Unions (LRTU) (SI0210102F). The RRTU lists which trade unions are considered representative in particular sectors or occupations, according to the criteria determined by the LRTU and the standard classifications of activities and occupations. The RRTU lists fewer representative trade unions in the railway sector than there are signatory unions to the sectoral collective agreement. In practice, it is the employer that recognises a trade union as representative, and the LRTU does not determine that its representativeness criteria must be taken into account within the context of collective bargaining.

HSZ employed 8,402 workers as at 31 December 2003, down from 8,794 workers in 2002, 9,023 workers in 2001 and 9,026 in 2000. Altogether Slovenian Railways employs around 10,000 workers at present - HSZ accounts for around 8,000 and its subsidiaries for around 2,000.

All the representative railway workers’ trade unions are members of an umbrella body known as Slovenian Railways Unions (Sindikati Slovenskih zeleznic, SSZ), through which they organise joint actions and promote their common interests. Five of these unions are members of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) - SSSLO, SZS, SZPS, SZTS and SVPS (see below).

The representative rail unions can be divided into two main groups, as follows.

First group of representative unions

There is a first group of seven representative trade unions with members mainly in the passenger and freight transport sector companies:

• the Locomotive Drivers’ Union of Slovenia (Sindikat strojevodij Slovenije, SSSLO). SSSLO is a member of the Slovene Union of Trade Unions Alternativa (Slovenska zveza sindikatov Alternativa, Alternativa) (SI0210102F). Silvo Berdajs, the SSSLO general secretary, is president of the HSZ employees' council (SI0312101F) and a member of the HSZ supervisory board (as well as the recently elected president of Alternativa). One of the six central trade union organisations officially recognised as representative federations or confederations (the highest national level), Alternativa is relatively small and is considered representative only in the sectors of land and water transport. It leans towards the right of the political spectrum;

• the Railway Activity Union of Slovenia (Sindikat delavcev zelezniške dejavnosti Slovenije, SDZDS), which is recognised as representative in the sector of railway transport;

• the Railway Transport Union of Slovenia (Sindikat zelezniskega transporta Slovenije, SZTS), a member of Alternativa recognised as representative for the occupation of fare collector;

• the Railway Workers’ Union of Slovenia (Sindikat zeleznicarjev Slovenije, SZS) (SI0501305F). SZS is a member of the Union of Workers' Solidarity (Zveza delavcev Solidarnost, Solidarnost). lbert Pavlic, the SZS general secretary, and president of Solidarnost, is a worker director - ie a member of the HSZ management. In 2001, SZS was one of the main initiators and founders of Solidarnost, one of the six central trade union organisations officially recognised as representative federations or confederations. It is a small confederation considered as representative in only two sectors: the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers; and railway transport. It leans towards the right of the political spectrum;

• the Railway Carriage Inspectors’ Union of Slovenia (Sindikat vozovnih preglednikov Slovenije, SVPS);

• the Railway Rolling Stock Maintenance Workers’ Union of Slovenia (Sindikat vzdrževalcev zelezniskih voznih sredstev Slovenije, SVZVSS); and

• the Locomotive Maintenance Workers’ Union Moste (Sindikat vzdrževalcev lokomotiv Moste, SVLM).

These seven unions and the HSZ employees' council strongly opposed the previous government's model of splitting Slovenian Railways into three companies and partially privatising two of them. They demanded that Slovenian Railways should remain a single company and were the main initiators of the referendum held in January 2003, which they lost. On 21 June 2005, they called on railway workers to support their demands - made in the context of the expected significant amendments to the legislation on railway - to reorganise HSZ again as a unified company and give it the public railway infrastructure management role now held by JAZPRS

On 8 July 2005, the seven trade unions accused SZPS and SSPDS (the 'second group' of representative trade unions - see below) of ignoring the common interest of all workers employed at HSZ by not supporting the first group's demands to reorganise HSZ as a single company. The first group opposed strikes organised by SZPS and other unions (see below). Like HSZ management, they claimed that these strikes were politically motivated because they were organised at the time when sweeping changes of the railway legislation were being prepared.

Second group of representative unions

The second group comprises two representative trade unions with many members in the railway infrastructure sector company:

• the Railway Traffic Union of Slovenia (Sindikat zelezniskega prometa Slovenije, SZPS). SZPS was founded in 1990 as the Trade Union of Train Dispatchers of Slovenia and Istria (Sindikat vlakovnih odpravnikov Slovenije in Istre, SVOSI). At that time, it was representative for the occupation of train dispatcher. In 2002, it renamed itself as SZPS. According to media reports, it currently represents around 1,250 members in all occupations (many in the railway infrastructure sector). In November 2005, SZPS joined KNSS - Independence, Confederation of New Trade Unions of Slovenia (KNSS - Neodvisnost, Konfederacija novih sindikatov Slovenije, KNSS)(SI0210102F), one of the six central trade union organisations officially recognised as representative federations or confederations; and

• the Independent Track Maintenance Activity Union of Slovenia (Samostojni sindikat progovzdrževalne dejavnosti Slovenije, SSPDS).

These two unions support the reorganisation model implemented by the former centre-left government (ie splitting Slovenian Railways into three companies and partially privatising two of them) and believe that the changes that it introduced are necessary. SZPS organised four-hour strikes on 9 November and 16 November 2005 (SI0512304F).

Other unions

In addition to the unions recognised as being representatives, there are other rail unions, including:

• the Railway Construction Company Union Ljubljana (Sindikat zelezniškega gradbenega podjetja Ljubljana, SZGPL);

• the Trade Union of Safety Signalling and Telecommunication Devices Celje (Sindikat delavcev signalnovarnostnih in telekomunikacijskih naprav Celje, SVTK Celje); and

• the Trade Union of Safety Signalling and Telecommunication Devices Pivka (Sindikat delavcev Pivka signalnovarnostnih in telekomunikacijskih naprav, SVTK Pivka).

SVTK Celje and the SVTK Pivka support the reorganisation model implemented by the former government.

Commentary

Some press commentators (eg the Delo daily) claim that the trade unions are the decisive actors in the management of HSZ.

It seems that it is in the interest of the second group of two representative trade unions, which have many members in the railway infrastructure sector company, (and in the interest of some other unions) that HSZ remains split into three companies, that the infrastructure company remains in state hands and that the passenger and freight transport sectors are exposed to market competition. It is likely that these unions are convinced that the infrastructure sector will thus receive more financial means from the state budget allocated for the railways and that their members will be better off.

The interests of the first group of seven representative trade unions, whose members are mainly in the passenger and freight transport sector companies, are probably completely different. They want HSZ to become a single company again (as before 2003) and once more manage the public railway infrastructure. They hope that the passenger and freight transport sectors would thus be less exposed to market competition and would also receive some financial means from the state budget allocated for the railways, which would benefit their members. (Stefan Skledar, Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development)