Belgian Public Services Union call national strike on 31 May

The Public Services Union ACOD has renewed its call for a general strike on Tuesday 31 May to highlight the general dissatisfaction of employees. On this day, several public services will be halted.

The day of action is aimed at combating the “general malaise” in the sector.

“With this call, we want to mobilise people, but also warn them that there could be a hindrance on public transport, for example”, ACOD vice-president Chris Reniers said.

Employees will take to the streets to demand “more purchasing power, more respect for the social dialogue, more investments in the public sector and more respect for government pensions.”

The expected hindrance by this action was already confirmed to The Brussels Times by the various public transport operators including train company SNCB, De Lijn in Flanders and STIB in Brussels. Garbage collectors are also expected to go on strike.

The trade union of the public broadcaster VRT has also announced they will go on strike. It is possible that this may result in a halt of broadcasts on radio and TV, as well as the offer on the internet. Television channel RTBF and its offerings will also be impacted by the strike action.

There will also be a strike in the education sector, which earlier this week already sounded the alarm bell regarding their depleted financial resources.

The French-speaking unions are currently undertaking three actions over the course of three months, to demand a change in school policy in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. The CSC Education association announced that the unions have not yet taken a position on Tuesday’s action.

(VIV)

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© ​ BELGA PHOTO (TIJS VANDERSTAPPEN) Demonstration of the three trade unions FGTB-ABVV - ACV-CSC and ACLVB-CGSLB, in Antwerp