DB Cargo planning almost 900 job losses

[CosherB]

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/national/article/Rail-freight-firm-DB-Cargo-planning-almost-900-job-losses-ab2e1c0c-aca3-4519-b4fe-79ae8c6567d1-ds

Rail freight firm DB Cargo is planning almost 900 job losses in the UK after a "dramatic decline" in markets such as coal.

The planned cuts represent almost 30% of the company's workforce.

The German-owned firm said the rail freight industry was facing "unprecedented challenges" because of the fall in its core markets.

Hans-Georg Werner, chief executive of DB Cargo UK, said: "Responsible and successful businesses must evolve and reshape as their markets change, and sometimes this means making tough decisions.

"Whilst this is a difficult time for all of us at DB Cargo UK, reshaping the company will enable us to build a business for the future and protect the majority of jobs.

"We are fully committed to supporting colleagues who may be at risk of redundancy.

"We firmly believe in the future of rail freight in the UK. Our motorways and roads are becoming more congested and rail offers fast and clean supply chain solutions.

"Our new business strategy will ensure we are a perfect logistics partner of choice for customers across all sectors - including construction, automotive and intermodal - long into the future."

The company said no final decisions have been taken yet, and its proposals are subject to formal collective and individual consultations.

Mick Cash, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, said: "This is devastating news brought on through a combination of cut-throat practices in the UK rail freight industry and a shocking lack of Government support for this key section of our transport infrastructure.

"RMT's executive will be meeting this afternoon to consider our response but it is imperative right now that the Government intervene to save skilled jobs in the rail freight industry which are being butchered before their eyes due to a lack of action to protect steel, coal and the rest of our manufacturing base."

 

[MrPIC]

Terrible news, I hope all those made redundant can find new jobs swiftly

 

[Carlisle]

Terrible news, I hope all those made redundant can find new jobs swiftly

Yes I totally agree with you there

 

[craigybagel]

It's not very long since they recruited trainees! Same situation as Freightliner last year....

 

[DaiGog]

I am told they are making all 1,116 drivers redundant and asking them to re-apply for only 725 jobs. Grim news indeed.

 

[FordFocus]

They want major changes to the train crew concept. Drivers no longer booking on at depots but driving to a goods loop or station and booking on via an iPad.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Some more extended quotes here: http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/...-in-face-of-unprecedented-market-changes.html
391 is said to be the number of drivers affected.
Hopefully the new requirements of the expanding passenger TOCs (TPE, Northern, GWR etc) will absorb many of these.

Mick Whelan, General Secretary of train drivers’ union ASLEF, said the redundancies, including 391 drivers, were ‘an individual tragedy for each man and woman who loses a job and a collective tragedy for our rail industry.’ He claimed the company ‘has been extraordinarily slow to adapt to changing conditions’, while ‘the government took the decisions that paved the way for the work to disappear and so it, too, must shoulder some of the blame.’

If Mr Cash expects the government to reverse the policy on the closure of coal power stations, I think he will be waiting a long time.

 

[Railops]

How long will it take Clegg and Milliband to blame it on Brexit.

 

[doubleamber]

How long will it take Clegg and Milliband to blame it on Brexit.

ha wont be long

 

[DarloRich]

terrible news for those concerned although not unexpected considering the vast changes in the freight market in recent times.

 

[RichmondCommu]

How long will it take Clegg and Milliband to blame it on Brexit.

Why on earth could the very sad job losses be blamed on Brexit?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Why on earth could the very sad job losses be blamed on Brexit?

The environmental and energy policies which led to the decline of coal predate the Brexit vote and relate to EU and global carbon commitments.
The surprise, in a way, is that the hit on rail freight has taken as long as it has.
There will be voices who say we can now/soon do what we like, but I doubt the policy will be reversed.
The Kyoto and now Paris agreements are onerous, inside or outside the EU.
The future might include more rail-hauled biomass, but the generators seem reluctant to add/convert capacity because of the cost and low oil/gas price.

Steel might have come off the bottom, though.
I still don't know why rail seems to keep missing the supermarket business.
Plenty of trials but very few volume contracts.

 

[RichmondCommu]

I still don't know why rail seems to keep missing the supermarket business.
Plenty of trials but very few volume contracts.

I'm guessing that the margins are very low on supermarket based rail freight like they are on Intermodal freight.

 

[furnessvale]

I still don't know why rail seems to keep missing the supermarket business.
Plenty of trials but very few volume contracts.

Very difficult to compete when your major competitor (road) is receiving a 70% cross subsidy from taxation on the private motorist.

 

[Suraggu]

They want major changes to the train crew concept. Drivers no longer booking on at depots but driving to a goods loop or station and booking on via an iPad.

GBRF have been able to thrive on this concept, mind you they were not restricted by BR contracts.

 

[alastair]

They want major changes to the train crew concept. Drivers no longer booking on at depots but driving to a goods loop or station and booking on via an iPad.

Not being rail staff,that just sounds like common sense and efficient working to me. is there a downside to it?

 

[ComUtoR]

Not being rail staff,that just sounds like common sense and efficient working to me. is there a downside to it?

Being able to book on drunk.
Increased risks of an accident on route to work.
Travel time and fatigue.
unable to access up to date publications.

Most things are mitigated against but there is always going to be a downside.

 

[CosherB]

Being able to book on drunk.
Increased risks of an accident on route to work.
Travel time and fatigue.
unable to access up to date publications.

Most things are mitigated against but there is always going to be a downside.

Welcome to the world that I and a huge number of other people have to contend with day in day out .... and I work in a completely unrelated, high risk, responsible position in industry.

Not that any of that will be of any great concern at the moment to the affected folks at DBC, it's a bad news day for sure.

 

[AnonymousUser1]

I am told they are making all 1,116 drivers redundant and asking them to re-apply for only 725 jobs. Grim news indeed.

It's standard practice to put everyone in pool at risk tand then undertake a scoring and reapplication process ...

probably one of the least unfair ways of doing it as it means local managers favourites and prejudices are somewhat dulled by the use of objective measures ( qualifications, experience, overall reviews and performance, disciplinary and sickness absence ( bearign in mind the Equality act) ... decisions being made a few levels above the depot./ department management and based on evidence ...
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I'm guessing that the margins are very low on supermarket based rail freight like they are on Intermodal freight.

plus also it's only every going to be part of the journey and would rely on easy access to the rails from National DC/ stockholder to forthe RDC to be equally connected meaning the containers could be easily lifted off and only require a (road) shunting move to a bay on the DC at both ends ...

Chilled and veg etc are time critical aside from any choice made with regard to J-i-T working
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Not being rail staff,that just sounds like common sense and efficient working to me. is there a downside to it?

of course not , the railway despite havign been privatised for many years is still stuck i nthe public secotr mindset of clinging to working practices which might have been relevant in 1923 or 1948 but aren't now.

 

[Knebworth85]

It's standard practice to put everyone in pool at risk tand then undertake a scoring and reapplication process ...

probably one of the least unfair ways of doing it as it means local managers favourites and prejudices are somewhat dulled by the use of objective measures ( qualifications, experience, overall reviews and performance, disciplinary and sickness absence ( bearign in mind the Equality act) ... decisions being made a few levels above the depot./ department management and based on evidence ...

Of course they could always have asked for voluntary redundancy first and see how many they got from that.

 

[al78]

Very difficult to compete when your major competitor (road) is receiving a 70% cross subsidy from taxation on the private motorist.

I don't follow you. What subsidy and what taxation is that?

 

[HLE]

Awful.

Making them all redundant? What if none re-apply - yes this won't happen but it would severely impact the business pretty swiftly if it did.

 

[CosherB]

It's standard practice to put everyone in pool at risk tand then undertake a scoring and reapplication process ...

probably one of the least unfair ways of doing it as it means local managers favourites and prejudices are somewhat dulled by the use of objective measures ( qualifications, experience, overall reviews and performance, disciplinary and sickness absence ( bearign in mind the Equality act) ... decisions being made a few levels above the depot./ department management and based on evidence ...

No - it's standard practice to ask for voluntary redundancies as part of the process, then do a scoring exercise on the remainder with the lowest scoring being made redundant. Making everyone redundant and forcing reapplications is not a common method of HR practice. I should know - I've been through such a process twice.

 

[RichmondCommu]

Not being rail staff,that just sounds like common sense and efficient working to me. is there a downside to it?

I'd be interested to know how easy it is to access many of the goods loops around the country, at least those that are not located at stations.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I don't follow you. What subsidy and what taxation is that?

Road tax?

 

[AnonymousUser1]

No - it's standard practice to ask for voluntary redundancies as part of the process, then do a scoring exercise on the remainder with the lowest scoring being made redundant. Making everyone redundant and forcing reapplications is not a common method of HR practice. i Should know - I've been through such a process twice.

and you have seen notice of redundancy in this case ? or just what passes for journalism ? amazing how many of the 'sacking people and making them reapply' stories in thepress are actually the standard process of asking for volunteers ( with carrots) then scoring in necessary interviews / 1 -2 -1 s ...

I too have been subject to such processes although the pools didn;t involved everyone of a certain job in the organisation due to there being a group of us who were 'erroneously' graded as part of national job evaluation process as the organisation had not even considered that ordinary staff in that profession would be graded into what they veiwed as a first line manager / highly specialist grade

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

No - it's standard practice to ask for voluntary redundancies as part of the process, then do a scoring exercise on the remainder with the lowest scoring being made redundant. Making everyone redundant and forcing reapplications is not a common method of HR practice. i Should know - I've been through such a process twice.

Don't you mean putting everyone at risk of redundancy and then withdrawing that status for a proportion of staff before the time limit expires?
That's not the same as actually making staff redundant and then rehiring some later.
At least that was how it worked in my day (not rail).

 

[AnonymousUser1]

Awful.

Making them all redundant? What if none re-apply - yes this won't happen but it would severely impact the business pretty swiftly if it did.

care to present evidence that they are actually making everyone redundant rather than putting everyone at risk and when the music stops those who aren't either
- sat in a DBS chair,
- sat in another TOC/FOC chair or
-clutching an enhanced redundancy / pension for volunteering to go

get their cards ...

media sources egged on by the politicla subversive elements in the Unions are very fond of spouting all kinds of effluence aobut redundancy through deliberately briefing that consultations and At risk letters are actually Notice of termination being issued.

 

[Nicks]

As a matter of interest how many DB Cargo locomotives are serviceable for the 1116 drivers to operate?

 

[GatwickDepress]

Very sad but not unexpected considering the freight traffic market. I really do hope the staff unfortunate enough to be laid off find other jobs in the sector. It's no fun.

 

[AnonymousUser1]

As a matter of interest how many DB Cargo locomotives are serviceable for the 1116 drivers to operate?

Ah the 'cost of everything and value of nothing fallacy' that forgets that 1 post * 24/7 is at least 4 and a bit FTE and closer to 5.5 when you take into account leave and other mandatory extractions - amd how many of the 'drivers' are also trainers / assessors / traction inspectors etc etc