[War] Spain: "Those trains again."

[Iain]

"Those trains again."
Minister Miguel Sebastian
Spain
4th September 2014


(Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism)

Minister Sebastian was sat with two of his colleagues from the Ministry and
the representatives of the RENFE and unions representing the rail workers.
It had taken two hours for the entire group to come to the agreement that
the current direction of rail construction and maintenance projects could
not be viably maintained. The cost to the government was becoming
unacceptable, the timeframe for completion was expanding to embarrassing
levels and both of these were affecting the morale of those working on the
projects and others associated with it.

It had taken a further half an hour for the ministry to convince both RENFE
and the Unions that the problem could not be solved domestically. The only
companies able to expedite the project were already involved in various
parts of it and the only option they could offer was to increase workforce
and material acquisition at a subsequent increased cost.

So two and a half hours after this meeting started, Sebastian was finally at
a point where the plan his ministry had presented to the Prime Minister when
offers had come in from foreign companies could be voiced to those present.

"Therefore, we are agreed that international co-operation is the only way
that this matter is going to be resolved." It was a firm statement, he dared
not open it to discussion yet again, before a response was ascertained he
continued. "We have received offers from several sources but only two have
had weight enough to be considered." He looked pointedly to the RENFE
representatives. "One comes from Bombardier in Canada, where we already have
many contacts and a good working relationship. The other, from Shenyang in
China. Both have guaranteed a Spanish contingent of 95% and 90% of the total
workforce for construction of these railways respectively. Furthermore,
should we allow these companies to operate and maintain the rail systems
Shenyang has stated in their offer that 99.9% or more of the workforce would
be Spanish, the Bombardier offer didn't detail their plans in this respect."

"This is unacceptable!" One of the senior RENFE officials had stood up at
the last statement, in an almost fury, no doubt stemming from the
frustration of the conversations that had been going round in circles over
the past few hours. "With all due respect, Minister, you have just casually
suggested the privatisation of the Spanish rail network and no doubt the
dissolution of RENFE and lord knows how many redundancies."

"If you would let me finish, -sir-." Sebastian was used to dealing with
people who were less than happy and getting above their stations. "We intend
to send back both offers with provisions to see just how keen these
companies are in their bids. Firstly, RENFE will remain as a regulatory body
to ensure the standards of service for Spanish rail travellers, the workers
rights and working conditions and the standards of maintenance of the lines
will be maintained to a standard we are all happy with." Here the unions got
a pointed look. "The current senior staff and those involved in regulation
will remain in post. The rest of RENFE's branches will be taken over by
whomever wins the contract on the provision that all current workforce are
all either maintained in post or given comparable positions and their pay is
guaranteed to remain the same."

The silence that prevailed for a few moments spoke more than words would
have. The discussion then turned to matters of salaries for RENFE officials,
profit margins and future projects but really nothing came of these and the
meeting was over in another half hour, much to everyone's relief.

===============
ACTIONS:
1) Agreement reached that foreign involvement required in rail project
2) Agreement that privatisation is a viable option.
3) Respond to both Bombardier and Shenyang
	a) Considering both offers
	b) Request confirmation of proportion of workforce to be Spanish for
both construction and maintenance
	c) Request confirmation of decrease in costs for these
	d) Request guarantee of employment of all current RENFE staff not
involved in regulation on same pay or greater
	e) Request confirmation to allow RENFE to regulate operations and to
abide by RENFE decisions on such matters and to cooperate fully with unions.