From January 2028, the Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB will no longer conduct statutory recruitments. This is stated in the preliminary agreement that the railroad unions ACOD Spoor, ACV-Transcom, and VSOA Spoor reached with Minister of Mobility Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés).
From now on, new employees will be recruited by contract, which will eventually lead to the disappearance of the permanent civil servant at the railroad. The rail unions will come home empty-handed because they want to preserve the staff status and statutory recruitment. The unions have already gone on strike 23 times this year.
End of an era
The transition is part of a broader reform within the rail sector. HR Rail acts as the central employer, making staff available to both NMBS/SNCB and rail network operator Infrabel.
However, the minister and rail unions agreed that unions and rail boards would negotiate a collective bargaining agreement for contractual staff in the national joint committee. Within the social dialogue, a two-thirds majority will also remain necessary to approve decisions.
The exact number of statutory civil servants at NMBS/SNCB is not publicly available, but it is estimated to be nearly eight in ten of the 18,600 staff. Statutory civil servants generally have more job security and are more difficult to dismiss than contractual employees, and they also enjoy additional rights, such as a state pension.
HR Rail will be retained, but with fewer powers
The unions did achieve some success regarding HR Rail, the legal employer of rail staff. There were fears that the service would be heavily reformed and that powers and services would be transferred to NMBS/SNCB and the rail network manager Infrabel. According to the preliminary agreement, however, HR Rail will continue to exist in a different role.
HR Rail will still provide legal expertise on human resources, but several tasks will shift to NMBS/SNCB and Infrabel. The three rail companies will each become the legal and actual employer of their personnel and be responsible for their own recruitment and selection.
This means that in the future, staff members will shift from HR Rail to NMBS/SNCB or Infrabel, retaining their seniority, pay, and other acquired rights. And there will be no layoffs.
End of May vote
The preliminary agreement also states that the alternative timetable will not be extended in the event of strikes, so the system will remain as it is. In other words, staff members must indicate in advance whether they will strike, and on that basis, NMBS/SNCB and Infrabel will work out a timetable.
The changes are part of improving NMBS/SNCB’s financial situation and the cuts in general that the De Wever government wants to implement. Moreover, NMBS/SNCB will lose its monopoly after the current management agreement expires in 2032, and the reforms should help prepare the railroad company for a liberalized market.
The unions are now submitting the preliminary agreement to their members. The Socialist and Christian unions, the largest rail unions, are speaking out on May 27th.
