Unions postpone 72-hour train strike planned for January

Unions representing rail workers have postponed a 72-hour strike planned for 21, 22 and 23 January, to allow students to travel to universities and university colleges to take exams during that period. The strike due to take place on 6 and 7 January will go ahead.

When the five days of strikes were announced earlier this month, it quickly became evident that this would present a problem for the country’s students in higher education, as January is a busy exam period for them. In response, some students offered to share their rooms with colleagues to ensure they made it to school on time. And some striking SNCB personnel offered to organise a car-pool shuttle service to bring students to their exams.

None of that will now be needed. “The strike will be put off until a later date, but it’s not yet decided when,” said ACOD representative Ludo Sempels. “We have listened to the students, and responded to their demands. We try always to be constructive,” he said.

The unions will also be hoping that rail authority SNCB and the government will see the decision as a gesture of good faith in the discussions currently going on to resolve the underlying dispute. The unions are protesting against new productivity measures adopted by the SNCB, which reduce the number of vacation days and call for one extra hour a week of work for no increase in pay.

At the moment the talks are at stalemate: the unions have asked for a social arbitrator to be called in to referee the dispute; the government is willing to do that, but only if the unions call off their strikes. The unions will next meet to discuss their position next Monday, after the Christmas break.

Photo courtesy Antwerpen Toerisme en Congres