German railway and transport union EVG is reportedly planning to vote against the sale of forwarder DB Schenker to DSV later this week.
On October 2, the supervisory board of DB Schenker parent Deutsche Bahn is due vote on DSV’s EUR14.3bn deal to acquire the forwarder. Media reports suggest that EVG will vote against the deal over fears it could result in job losses.
The union will not be able to stop the deal on its own and will need to convince other members of the supervisory board. HLPFI’s sister title DVZ reports that around half the 20-member board comes from the employee side of the business but it is unclear at this stage which way the other unions will vote.
On the employer side, the DB supervisory board includes two state secretaries and three members of the Bundestag. If the vote ends in a tie, the chairman of the supervisory board, Werner Gatzer, could use his voting rights to push through the decision against the employee representatives, DVZ said.
Another union, Ver.di, had expressed concern that the takeover could lead to job losses in Germany. It had thrown its weight behind the bid from private-equity consortium led by CVC.
