Rail freight company DB Cargo is to cut around 30% of its workforce as part of a restructure that has been forced upon it by the declining coal market.

DB is the UK’s largest rail freight company, and is set to cut a total of 893 jobs. The company has been in talks with the four main trades unions representing its staff (RMT, ASLEF, TSSA and Unite) about the proposed cuts to the workforce since October 2016. DB claim that it has now reached successful agreements with the unions. It will now launch its new business model on the 2nd of July this year.

It said the working arrangements of employees will be “updated and modernised”.

“I would like to thank ASLEF, RMT, TSSA and Unite for their continued dialogue with us,” said CEO of DB Cargo UK, Hans-Georg Werner. “Under the pressures of the market we were able to find agreements acceptable to all parties and avoid industrial action.

“We regret that some colleagues will be leaving us but treating our people fairly to secure a business that will be successful in the future has been at the heart of our discussions.

“We will now move forward with our plans to lead the next generation of rail freight which includes key investments such as new wagons, terminal enhancements and combining our core function of delivering goods by rail with bespoke in-house IT solutions, to give our customers the best service and make it easy for them to do business with us.”

While not strictly the last mile delivery market, this is a sign of the greening of the economy and how changes that benefit the majority of us can hit one or two industries very hard. This won’t be the first climate change victim, as fossil fuel companies and their suppliers are forced to diversify or die.  
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