Staff at Belgium’s publicly owned rail company NMBS are taking industrial action on 10 March. The unions say workers are worried about rail underfunding and staffing levels: “We can no longer offer our passengers a good service”.
The strike is being organised by the two main unions, the socialist ACOD and the Christian Transcom ACV. All week long next week unions are organising a “week of action” across the public sector. It’s a protest against underfunding and understaffing. Stoppages can be expected in other sectors than rail.
“Every day we face staff shortages” says ACOD’s Gunther Bauwens. “Every day there are delays or problems with passenger comfort. We want to send a clear message to the government”.
The unions are seeking proactive investment in rail services by the federal government: “The investments we see are compensation for cuts in years gone by. They now need to dare to invest in the railways and provide the service we should provide. The government’s happy with 91% punctuality. We think it’s not enough. Our ambitions for the railways are greater than those of the government”.
The strike will start at 10PM CET on 9 March and run for 24 hours till 10PM CET on 10 March.