On January 20, a meeting was held between the Trade Unions, Tper, Ami, the Municipality of Ferrara and the Province of Ferrara to follow up on the discussion that began at the end of 2014 with the company's announcement that it wanted to transfer 40 drivers to Bologna.
To summarize what was discussed above, Tper has declared itself unavailable to sign the renewal of the Ferrara public transport service contract, now expired on 31/12/2014 and to be renewed until 2019 in order to go to tender together with the territory of Bo, if an agreement is not first signed with the Trade Unions to recover from the deficit of 1 million Euro that remains on the management of transport in the Ferrara area. The recovery could occur, according to the company, through the transfer of 1 million km to private companies, given that the difference between internal and external management costs paid to private companies is 1 Euro/km. Tper has therefore proposed to transfer 40 drivers to Bologna, i.e. those who would be redundant as a result of this transfer, but the unions immediately refused to endorse the transfer and, possibly, also the transfer of km, but have asked that alternative measures be adopted.
The Trade Unions also reiterated that they have been raising the issue of traffic for some time and are waiting for measures in this area that could lead to an increase in commercial speed and therefore to a decrease in the cost of the service. At the same time, they recalled that there are other issues upstream that need to be evaluated in terms of their impact on the budget, such as
- the drop in the price of diesel;
- the costs of Ami, which is still in operation despite the regional law provision for the merger of agencies that was to be implemented by 2013;
- the contribution that the Municipalities of the Province pay for the public transport service, which is only 5 cents/km;
- the tax credit received by Ami and transferred by it to the owner bodies (Municipality and Province), which could have been used to finance the Tpl instead of partially repaying the Province's negative budget and for social investments, in particular for the nursery schools of the Municipality of Ferrara.
On this last point, Ami specified that the Agency was also created to recover VAT, which is not permitted to Local Authorities, therefore the withdrawal of 3 million Euros from the budget by the owning Authorities is a necessary act.
The mid-December meeting concluded with a meeting report certifying the commitment of all parties to identify alternative solutions that avoid the risk of transfers. This report was necessary to justify the contractual vacancy after 12/31, otherwise the procedures for the tendering of the Ferrara basin service would have had to start.
At the next meeting between the unions and the company, the need for transfers was reduced to 25 units, of which 15 from September 2015 and the remaining 10 from September 2016, given that the company has estimated that another 15 people will already be missing due to retirements and incentivized departures (Tper considers units useful for pursuing the goal not only drivers but any employee in the Fe catchment area, including those employed in the offices or in the workshop or yard, who will no longer be on the payroll).
The Trade Unions have declared their agreement to the voluntary incentivized exodus for those close to retirement and have asked for more precise information on the company proposal to be addressed to potential interested parties.
Coming to the report of yesterday's meeting, the unions reiterated that the burden of shortcomings of company management and local authorities must not be borne by the drivers, therefore any proposal for transfer is rejected.
The Municipality and Province have instead reiterated that there are no additional resources available to invest in local public transport; only the Municipality of Fe has added 100 thousand Euro to its contribution for the public service, while most of the other Municipalities have not yet presented a budget forecast for 2015. The latter's agreement to provide 5 cents/km remains, which many have not even paid for 2014. According to the Local Authorities, the path implemented since February 2013 is evidence of the effort made for the sector, with resources for the service at the Cona hospital (such as 100 thousand Euros from the Municipality and 250 thousand from the Province) and an increase in the cost of the ticket from 80 cents to Euro 1.30, which have prevented greater cuts than those actually made to the service. The Province has declared its agreement on the restructuring of the city's road system to improve the service, which should have been addressed some time ago.
Tper informed those present that the estimate of the 15 units to be transferred comes from the future retirement of 15 drivers in the Bo basin by September 2015. It also declares its willingness to cede the km to Sst instead of to private companies, so as to be able to recover them in the future in the event of now unforeseeable revenues that improve the situation. Obviously, however, the decision will be up to Tpf, which has the right to decide on the assignment.
The discussion is adjourned until after the Trade Unions have heard the workers' opinion at the assembly.
