Deutsche Bahn wants to sell its logistics subsidiary Schenker. The approval of the supervisory board is still missing, in which the unions are now opposing this. But they probably can’t stop the deal.
The German Locomotive Drivers’ Union (GDL) is threatening to withhold its consent to the sale of the rail logistics subsidiary Schenker – but this is unlikely to jeopardize the deal. The larger railway and transport union (EVG) had already announced at the weekend that it would vote against the sale of Schenker at the special railway supervisory board meeting scheduled for this Wednesday. Above all, she fears the loss of numerous jobs.
But even if the entire employee side on the supervisory board votes against the sale on Wednesday, they will not have a majority in the committee due to the chairman’s double voting rights. The unions can no longer stop the sale process as long as the owners agree unanimously.
Deutsche Bahn wants to sell Schenker to its Danish competitor DSV for 14.3 billion euros. This would mean that the ailing DB Group would separate itself from one of the few well-performing business areas in-house. The proceeds from the sale will be used entirely to reduce the mountain of debt, which amounted to around 33 billion euros in the first half of the year. In addition to the supervisory board, the federal government also has to approve.
GDL basically open for sale
In principle, the GDL is open to a sale of the company, which is not part of the railway’s core business. However, the union has now announced that the highest purchase price should not be the decisive factor in the sale. “In fact, a well-founded takeover concept should urgently be in place for our colleagues at DB Schenker AG,” it said.
“According to recent reports, the bidding process is not presented in a comparable and transparent manner for the supervisory board.” It will make it more difficult for the committee to make the right decision. “As long as the transparency that is urgently needed for decision-making is missing, the GDL cannot respond positively,” the union said.
Source: Stern
