The strike by Flemish public sector workers continues today, causing major disruption to shipping traffic on the region’s inland waterways. On Monday staff at locks on canals and rivers downed tool and now the Christian trade union ACV says that marine pilots at seaports are also taking industrial action. The action is being taken in protest against reforms to the Flemish civil service statute.
Ilse Remy of the ACV Public Services union told VRT News that "The locks will not open today. The strike continues". Dozens of boats are currently waiting at locks as a result of the action. However, the strike is also threatening to have an impact elsewhere. Public sector workers that provide services to shipping have also gone on strike and this means that there are no pilots to guide seafaring vessels into port. “If a pilot is not brought on board, then a ship cannot sail in or out of the port. This will certainly have a major impact on all seaports in Flanders," said Ilse Remy told VRT News.
Some 30 ships are already waiting in the North Sea to enter the port of Antwerp, the port spokesman Lennart Verstappen says.
Elsewhere, the strike has also spread to other Flemish public services such as the Flemish Employment and Vocational Training Service VDAB and "This morning a strike will also start at the psychiatric care centre in Rekem", Ms Remy said.
"The strike will continue"
Staff have downed tools due to their dissatisfaction with the Flemish government's new civil service statute. Among the issues under discussion are pay scales.
According to ACV’s Ilse Remy the unions’ are not being heard by the Flemish government. "We have not received any response for the time being. We will continue our action until we have been able to reach a constructive agreement." Talks between the unions and the Flemish minister responsible for the Flemish Civil Service Gwendolyn Rutten (liberal) are planned for Tuesday afternoon.