13 Mar 2007 - International Railway Workers' Action Day 2007

Breaking News No.4
17:30 GMT (13 March 2007)
Argentina La Fraternidad in Argentina has taken the initiative to organise activities at the Argentina-Paraguay-Brazil border points and the Brazil-Argentina border point in Uruguay. As this Rail Action Day coincided with the Mercosur Transport Day in the region, the ITF's road transport affiliates from Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay have also taken joint border actions in Iguasu. More than 60 activists and regional leaders, together with the ITF's reprsentative, have visited passenger and freight road transport terminals and parking areas near the borders, providing union leaflets to the professional drivers and discussing health and safety issues. (Phone report by Gabriel Mocho)
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 |  |  | view larger image |  | Presentation of the European driving licence by DB AG and TRANSNET to international drivers |
Germany On 13 March, the first group of international locomotive drivers in Germany received the European locomotive drivers' licence from the DB AG and the ITF-affiliated TRANSNET. The three recipients are active on international routes from Köln to Brussels and Amsterdam. This certificate is derived from the ETF/CER agreement and is based on qualification standards agreed between the social partners. These standards assure that drivers are well qualified to drive on another network. The company confirms that all of their international drivers will be issued with this licence soon. It has already been issued in Austria and Hungary and the SNCF in France will also follow shortly.
(Email reports by Konni Hill and Sabine Trier)
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Serbia The Trade Union of Railwaymen held a border meeting with their railway colleagues from Hungary and Romania.
(Phone report by Miroslav Jeremic)
Croatia
The Railroad Engineer Trade Union in Croatia held a press conference about the Action Day near the capital today. Advertisements with the message "Safety First!" in Croatian were displayed on every train. The union also sent letters to the government about railway restructuring.
(Phone report by Dalibor Petrovic)
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