The railway union (EVG) and the overall works council have expressed significant criticism regarding the plans of the new chief of the railway, Evelyn Palla, for restructuring the entire corporation.
According to a letter sent by Deputy EVG Chairman Kristian Loroch and Overall Works Council Chairman Caner Cengiz, who reported their concerns to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, Palla recently announced her intention to completely overhaul the group. However, they point out that her efforts have been conducted “without a discernible overarching goal”.
The main point of contention revolves around the divisional subsidiary, DB Services. Plans regarding this entity have been unstable and constantly shifting: initially, it was planned for sale; subsequently, the plan changed, and then certain business units were supposed to be integrated into the daughters DB Regio and DB Fernverkehr. Now, however, the works council and the EVG have been informed, “after months of dedicated effort” that the previous plans were “miscalculated” or “flawed”. Loroch and Cengiz further stated that the proposed restructuring of DB Services is “economically unviable and operationally nearly impossible”.
Loroch and Cengiz argued that the constant changes undermine confidence. They wrote: “After we reached an agreement on a direction, now the pendulum swings back into uncertainty. It is dishonest of the corporate board to jeopardize the jobs of people through such uncertainty and lack of planning”. The permanent employees are described as “massively unsettled” by the back-and-forth policy. They stressed that the board must first focus on its core task: “developing a clear vision and a strategic direction, and subsequently examining its feasibility and plausibility”.
This criticism comes as Palla has scheduled an all-day board meeting for the coming Monday. During this session, the individual target concepts developed by her and her four colleagues are intended to be compared and merged into a coherent overall concept. From Kristian Loroch’s perspective, this effort is far too late. “What is happening here is a failure of governance” he told the newspaper. “Unfortunately, this continues the era of Lutz. The board as a whole is now challenged to take responsibility”.
