Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB is to roll out an action plan to “improve the working environment of employees.” It is doing so following a welfare survey conducted early this year by IDEWE, an external service for prevention and protection at work.
According to the unions, the survey’s results and conclusions, which measured, among other things, the risks of stress, burnout, work pressure, and undesirable behavior, were downright disastrous.
Wake-up call
Regarding those alarming results, the socialist union ACOD Spoor cites that 43% of respondents feel exhausted by their work, and more than a quarter (28%) are at risk of burnout.
Only half feel supported by their immediate supervisor, and less than half would recommend NMBS/SNCB as an employer to family or friends. “This is a real wake-up call that the NMBS/SNCB leadership should take seriously,” says ACOD Spoor.
The union VSOA-Spoor says that compared to the Belgian average, NMBS/SNCB “scores poorly in terms of both internal and external undesirable behavior.”
For example, a third of respondents, and more than half of NMBS/SNCB employees, who participated in the survey, experienced external aggression in the past six months, and 16% spoke of weekly internal harassment. And discrimination, primarily based on origin, gender, and age, remains a persistent problem, according to the railroad union.
Rollout of the action plan
NMBS/SNCB itself does not publicly respond to the survey’s results and conclusions. However, it does reveal that “all departments have been mobilized to work on a concrete action plan.”
This will revolve around four pillars: an open corporate culture, working conditions, and the development of inclusive work floors, increased cooperation between departments, and more learning and training opportunities so that everyone’s skills can be fully utilized.
It is planned that working groups will meet starting in September to work out concrete measures. The first concrete actions, then, would be for early next year.
Also ruined the working atmosphere at Securail
Just a few days ago, based on their own survey of 376 employees, the unions denounced a “culture of fear” and a “toxic work atmosphere” at Securail, the department responsible for ensuring the safety of rail users. The results of that survey will also be considered, NMBS/SNCB says.
Commenting on that survey of Securail staff, Mobility Minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés) called the results “worrying.” He wants the consultation within NMBS/SNCB to produce results and will not hesitate to intervene should the dialogue stall, the Minister told the House. “NMBS/SNCB has a responsibility as an employer, and I will see to it that it assumes it fully,” Crucke said.
