German rail union seeks to halt sale of profitable logistics unit

The EVG railway workers' labour union is to oppose plans by Germany's state-owned rail company Deutsche Bahn (DB) to sell off its profitable DB Schenker logistics subsidiary, dpa has learned.

DB's supervisory board is scheduled to vote on Wednesday regarding the sale of DB Schenker to Danish competitor DSV for €14.3 billion ($16 billion), but the approval is uncertain.

According to information obtained by dpa on Sunday, EVG plans to gain support from competitor union GDL, which represents train drivers, but the GDL's position remains unclear.

By selling one of its few profitable business units, the struggling DB Group aims to reduce its significant debt, which totalled approximately €33 billion in the first half of the year.

The full proceeds from the sale are intended to be used for debt reduction.

Half the 20-member group supervisory board are drawn from the employees' side. Others on the board include two secretaries of state and three members of the German parliament.

In the event of a tied vote, board chairman Werner Gatzer could use his double vote to swing the decision against the unions.

The unions fear a merger with DSV will result in large job losses and are backing a sale to an investor. CVC Capital Partners, a private equity investor, has shown interest in DB Schenker.

In the first half, Schenker posted operating profits of €520 million.

For 2023 as a whole the logistics subsidiary made a profit of €1.8 billion, helping Deutsche Bahn to show an operating profit once again after the crisis years of the pandemic.