Thousands of railway employees to undergo police security checks
Thousands of Belgian railway workers in sensitive jobs will soon be subject to security checks, Le Soir reported on Friday, citing internal documents from the French-speaking socialist union CGSP and HR Rail.
Pierre Lejeune, national president of CGSP Cheminots, says around 5,000 people are affected. According to Marie-Anne Bury, spokesperson for HR Rail, the new measure concerns 3,300 employees at SNCB, the company contracted by the state to run the railways, and 4,600 at Infrabel, the rail infrastructure manager.
Three roles will be targeted at SNCB: train drivers, agents of the railway security service Sécurail and employees in remote monitoring and control rooms. At Infrabel, several other roles, including those of telecommunications technicians, are affected.
These employees will now be subject to a security check, renewable every five years, carried out by the federal police. The employees' identities are checked against various security databases, after which they receive a positive or negative certificate. The latter means immediate dismissal and a lifetime ban on applying for jobs within the railways.
© BELGA PHOTO BENOIT DOPPAGNE
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