The Christian trade union ACV Transcom and the socialist trade union ACOD Spoor have abnounced that their members will take industrial action on Monday 17 and Monday 31 March, the day of the General Strike. The unions also say that between April and June there will be 4 days of strike action per month. On each of these days rail staff in a particular region of the country will down tools. The unions are protesting against pension reform plans and cuts on the railways.
Larger rail unions announce 2 days of strike action in March with possibly more to come in April
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At 10pm this evening the 9-day strike by members of two of the smaller rail unions, OVS and ASTB will be a week old. The major railway unions did OVS and ASTB’s action but have now announced plans of their own for strikes in the coming months.
The leader of Christian trade union ACV Transcom Koen De Mey told VRT News “We’ll start with a national strike at the railways on 17 March and on 31 March, there will be a general strike. From April to June, there will then be four days of action per month on the railways. These will be actions taken region by region”.
When and where these days of action will be held is not yet clear. “We will look at that from month to month, depending on how the negotiations are going.”
Why are the rail unions protesting?
The Rail unions are protesting against the federal government's plans to reform pensions. There are also serious concerns about the increased productivity and flexibility that is being required of rail staff, ongoing cuts, plans to dissolve HR-Rail, the company that is legally the employer of those that work for the rail company NMBS and the Infrastructure management company Infrabel, and fears that SNCB will be split up.
What about April?
The dates of 17 March and 31 March have already been fixed. However, it has still to be announced when the planned 4 days of strike action per month will take place in the months between April and June.
Mr De Mey told VRT News that “Probably 4 strikes a month with be held, each time in different region. We are still looking and it will depend on the progress that is made at the negotiations.”
The strike notice apply to all staff of Belgian Railways and its subsidiaries, the unions say. They apply to the entire network and all workplaces at NMBS, Infrabel and HR Rail.