Rubbish collectors call strike for Thursday

Household rubbish collections will be disrupted on Thursday due to a strike by workers at Bruxelles Propreté, the SLFP trade union has announced.

There were piles of uncollected bin bags on the streets when Bruxelles Propreté last walked out on strike in November over proposed changes to working arrangements.

Since then, many staff have continued to work to rule, deliberately taking longer to complete their rounds. They are protesting against increased workloads and longer rounds since household waste collections were reformed in 2017.

The latest walkout has been called after some staff claimed they were forced to carry out catch-up rounds or face disciplinary action, when overtime is normally voluntary.