On 10 October 2018, the ETF’s On-board Personnel Advisory Group hold its biannual meeting in Brussels. Numerous ETF affiliates presented their national contributions to the “You’re Welcome” campaign they organised at the occasion of the European action day on 4 October.
ETF members had an opportunity to discuss, exchange and evaluate the outcome of the European train crew action day. It turned out that in some of the European countries, commuters are often not aware of drivers-only operations (DOOs) and they are not informed about withdrawal of skilled railway staff from the trains. In many cases, passengers consider on-board staff to be part of the train and cannot imagine their daily commute without them. The information campaign took place both on board of trains and in numerous railway stations across Europe and brought positive results in terms of awareness-raising.
The main aim of the “You’re Welcome” campaign is to keep on-board staff on European trains and reverse the current trend of withdrawing skilled railway personnel. The European action day was part of the ETF Fair Transport campaign, which brings together workers from all transport sectors to fight for dignity at work and decent working conditions.