Strike on the rail from Thursday night – first test for minimum service-
SNCB expects heavy disturbances in rail traffic on Thursday night’s strike, especially as the Union is already announcing that the movement will be well followed. The minimum service will be applied for the first time and travellers will be able to consult the appropriate timetable from Wednesday, June 27th, to 10:00 p.m.
“In order to limit the inconveniences as much as possible, the SNCB is developing an alternative train service for each day on the basis of the available agents”, the SNCB announced. The thousands of workers from SNCB and Infrabel have had to report at the latest Monday night whether they will strike or not. These are “essential” workers in the operation of the service, such as train drivers and escorts. The magnitude of the movement is already known but has not been made public. On the basis of the available staff, an alternative transport plan will be set up and will be published Wednesday evening at 22:00.
The unions attacked the idea of the minimum service before the Constitutional Court. They believe that it is in violation of the right to strike. They also said that they feared possible incidents in the station if the demand for passengers would exceed the available supply of trains. Several minority unions had also filed notices of strike during the month of June. But the legal employer of the railways HR Rail rejected them for procedural reasons. The CSPF announces the presence of several pickets on Friday and Saturday, including one at the TGV workshop in Forest. Thalys also announces on its website that several trains will be cancelled on Friday and Saturday. An action is also planned with the FGTB Friday at 10:00 a.m. before the Office of the Minister of Pensions Daniel Babu.
Go to the SNCB‘s website for all strike updates
