At their open day on April 29, representatives of the employers’ organization Groupement Transport drew attention to the current shortage of personnel in the freight transport sector: the average age of truck drivers is high, many of them will be retiring in the coming years, and far too few young people are prepared to enter the profession. Luxembourg is currently short of some 10,000 drivers.

The companies themselves are largely responsible for this situation!

Well-known Luxembourg companies have also systematically opened branches in Eastern Europe to take advantage of wage dumping and less favorable labor conditions. In addition, the use of subcontractors is becoming increasingly common as a means of circumventing a company’s direct responsibility towards its drivers.

But the way many companies treat their drivers also means that many of these drivers no longer want to do the job: they often turn to the OGBL’s Road Transport & Shipping/ACAL Syndicate because their wages are not being paid to the full amount, or because their overtime is not being paid. The drivers concerned then have to fight – with the help of their union – in the courts to get them paid!

A further aggravating factor is the flagrant lack of democratic spirit in the sector. Many companies do everything in their power to avoid staff delegations organized at union level. Often, information on social elections is not communicated to drivers, so that they cannot even stand for election, and “neutral” (non-union) pro-employer candidates are put forward instead.

And if drivers still wish to organize openly within the OGBL, in many companies they are often put under pressure to restrain or end their commitment.

At present, many sectors are suffering from a shortage of available manpower – a situation particularly pronounced in the freight transport sector. However, this problem cannot be solved by an “open day”, but only by decent wages and good working conditions. These conditions can only be achieved with a good collective bargaining agreement!

If the Groupement Transport and companies in the sector are serious about remedying the driver shortage, practices such as social dumping and the systematic subcontracting of activities must cease, and the collective bargaining agreement must be renegotiated instead. In any case, the OGBL wishes to emphasize its willingness to negotiate better wages and working conditions through social dialogue, and thus make the profession of driver more attractive once again.

Press release from the OGBL Road Transport & Shipping/ACAL Syndicate, May 5, 2023