Public transport across Belgium will be disrupted on Friday, March 10th, as a strike was confirmed on Monday February 27th by the socialist unions CGSP Cheminots and ACOD Spoor. The rail strike will start on March 09 at 22:00 and end 24 hours later. Besides disruptions to the railway service, Brussels’ public transport network Stib/MIVB, Wallonie’s Tec and Flanders’ De Lijn will also be affected.
The strike is seen as the culmination of a week of protest actions announced in early February by the common trade union front (CGSP, SLFP, CSC). The CGSP Cheminots and ACOD Spoor intend to participate in the action and will cover all their members.
We expect a lot of people to participate and there will be major disruptions.
Stan Reusen, Socialist union ACOD TBM
The unions want to denounce underfunding and understaffing in several sectors. They are also demanding a strengthening of the pension systems in the public services and an increase in purchasing power. According to Belga news agency, the new pension deal includes a proposal to reform the so-called ‘perequation’, the system by which civil service pensions rise along with civil servants’ salaries, which would be limited to 0.5 per cent a year in the future.
According to local media, Wallonie’s Tec side has received the first letters indicating the strike notice. The members of the various unions have until 48 hours before the start of the action to notify the Walloon public carrier of their intention to strike on March 10th. It is only then that the company can express itself on the disruptions to be expected, it says.
The Socialist and Christian unions have filed a notice to this effect with the Flemish public transport company, Stan Reusen of the Socialist union ACOD TBM told Belgian media. “We expect a lot of people to participate and there will be major disruptions,” Reusen warned.
Both De Lijn and the SNCB have a minimum service system for industrial action days, where services are set according to the willingness of staff to work or to strike. Details are expected to become clearer by the middle of next week.
