YOU’RE WELCOME – Railway workers across Europe take action to defend on-board staff

October 5, 2018 - 15:00



Railway staff are responsible for the safety, security and wellbeing of passengers. On-board staff are at the heart of that team, supporting vulnerable passengers and keeping an eye out for threats. They are skilled workers, whose training and professionalism is useful everyday – and utterly vital in an emergency.

Sadly, train companies and politicians in many countries think we should cut onboard staff. This leaves drivers as the only staff presence on a train that might be carrying hundreds of passengers and passengers alone. This destroys quality jobs, excludes vulnerable passengers and risks everyone’s safety. Europe must keep staff on board!

Unions across Europe are taking action to defend these jobs, and guarantee passenger safety. On 4 October 2018, Railway workers and their unions had a pan-European action day where workers and union activists mobilised to keep skilled staff on our trains.

“You’re Welcome” was the slogan of the action day, echoing the million helpful encounters that European train staff have with their passengers every day. ETF affiliates from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK contributed to the Fair Transport campaign by explaining to commuters and the general public the varied and vital tasks that railway staff are responsible for.