Belgian Mobility Minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés) has reached a preliminary agreement with rail unions on issues including personnel management, legal responsibilities, and the modernization of staff status.
The agreement with representatives of HR Rail, NMBS/SNCB, Infrabel, and the unions ACOD Spoor, ACV Transcom, and VSOA Spoor may not be enough to also avert next Tuesday’s strike because pensions, a competence of Minister Jan Jambon (N-VA), have not yet been discussed.
No radical reform HR Rail
According to the Minister, the preliminary agreement includes “several fundamental principles.” For example, employees’ employment and acquired rights remain guaranteed, and there will be a transfer of power in terms of recruitment, selection, and career management.
In addition, HR Rail, the legal employer of rail staff, remains guarantor of social consultation, regulations, staff status, and contracts (there was first talk of disbanding HR Rail). The modernization of the statute and the development of contractual relations provide an adapted framework for the sector’s current challenges.
Still, the tricky issue of pensions
Additional details on the agreement’s content, which was reached after two days of intensive consultations, have not yet been given because the unions want to discuss the preliminary deal with their constituencies first. If the unions approve the agreement, it will be submitted to the federal government.
Whether this agreement will restore social peace is not yet clear. Pensions, one of the significant points of contention between the unions and the De Wever government, have not yet been discussed. Minister of Pensions Jan Jambon has that competence.
The unions suspended work for another 24 hours on Tuesday, the 22nd day of strike action this year. A new strike is planned next Tuesday.
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